73-year-old Bill Villanova competes in fourth Tough as Nails Urban Challenge
WHEELING - Seventy-three year old Bill Villanova has no plans of slowing down.
The Wheeling native competed in his fourth Tough as Nails Urban Challenge presented by The Health Plan on Sunday.
"I think staying physically active is incredibly important because you see these stories all of the time of people that are not fit and old age doesn’t go well with them," Villanova said. "I’m hoping that exercising and staying fit does go well for me, so I guess time will tell."
The 25-obstacle, 5-mile challenge was constructed to push participants to the limit while weaving through the entire city.
He added that he's not much of a runner so he's never competed in the half marathon or 5K but loves the challenge of the Tough As Nails. Villanova said that he's competed in various bike riding races and events but never at the Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine. He said that he would like to participate in the Wheeling Heritage Trail Bicycle Tour presented by Ohio Valley Trail Partners but has anxiety about being able to complete both events in the same weekend.
Villanova has competed in several Iron Man competitions, obstacle courses, and short runs and loves the challenging aspect of competing in the events.
The Wheeling Central Catholic graduate said that he has been competing in obstacle courses for the past decade and continues to compete in next year's Tough as Nails.
He said that his time is usually anywhere from 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes and wants to continue to improve his time.