Photo by Joselyn King Joe Howard of St. Clairsville, makes it to the finish line after running the Ogden Newspapers Half-Marathon eight times beginning at 4 a.m. Friday and ending just before noon on Saturday.

WHEELING – Joe Howard ran for 32 hours straight and he still had plenty of wind to talk.

Howard, 43, of St. Clairsville, began running the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic course at 4 a.m. Friday. He then proceeded to run the course eight times before crossing the finish line for the final time just before noon on Saturday.

He was accompanied by a police escort, and was the runner in who concluded Saturday’s marathon. His wife Sara and a friend, Vanessa Craig, were there to meet him.

Howard’s reason for the ultra-marathon run was to raise funds for a halfway house in Georgia – a cause important to the late Wheeling attorney Robert McCoid, who died in April.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” Howard explained. “My sponsor – an attorney of mine – recently passed away. So I decided to step it up and raise awareness and money for the organizations he was passionate about.”

Once all the details are finalized and the donations are collected, the money collected will be forwarded to Georgia, he said.

Howard isn’t certain how much was raised, but said he would announce that figure later.

He said he trains daily, and does long-distance running, ultra-marathon and strength training.

“I didn’t think we would be equipped to do it, but we made it happen,” Howard added.

He owns a glass business, Perfection Glazing in St. Clairsville. He also has a gym, where he trains others “to do things like this.”

“You try to just stay present one lap at a time,” Howard explained. “You get too far ahead and thinking about yourself and that creates too much anxiety. You need to bring yourself back to the present moment.”

Howard noted he also has been thinking of McCoid and the times they spent together.

“He started out as an attorney of mine for not so good things – alcohol instances and DUIs (driving under the influence infractions),” he said. “He later on became my sponsor after I removed alcohol from my life in 2010.”

Howard hopes to raise more donations before he sends them to Georgia. He suggests those interested in donating reach out to his wife Sara.