Photo by Stephanei Elverd The Health Plan CEO Jeff Knight cuts the ribbon to open Sunday’s Tough As Nails Urban Challenge in downtown Wheeling before later taking on the course himself for the first time.

WHEELING — Putting action behind sponsorship dollars, The Health Plan CEO Jeff Knight didn’t just support Sunday’s Tough As Nails Urban Challenge presented by The Health Plan — he ran it.

As the leader of one of the event’s presenting sponsors during Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine, Knight took the course from a different perspective this year, trading the executive role for the steep climbs, stairways and downtown obstacles that define Wheeling’s grueling urban race.

It was a literal case of putting his mouth where the money is — or, in this case, his sneakers where The Health Plan’s sponsorship is.

“We’ve been sponsoring this for a number of years and it’s about a little bit of peer pressure – my daughter wanted to do it and her friends have been doing it – so this is how I got involved,” Knight said.

Preparation, he admitted, didn’t come without effort after a few years away from consistent running.

“I was telling someone the other day, I don’t think I’ve run four miles cumulatively in four years,” he said. “So the past three weeks, I’ve been training and making sure I was getting enough miles in to prepare for today.”

The Tough As Nails Urban Challenge presented by The Health Plan sends participants through more than five miles of downtown Wheeling terrain and a series of obstacles designed to test both endurance and determination.

For Knight, the event also reflects the mission behind The Health Plan’s long-standing sponsorship.

“We think it’s important to try to encourage people to get active and get exercise,” he said. “It’s about fitness and it’s about all abilities really.”

Still, even as a sponsor and a CEO, Knight said the course carried its share of nerves — especially at the finish line.

“I just want to have a good showing but I want to finish. The finishing line scares me. That’s where everybody is going to watch,” he said. And somebody said something about a rope climb, I’m not sure how we are going to be able to pull that off and then there’s a pool to run across too. I just want to keep from getting wet. That’s my goal. It might rain, which is fine, but I would like to stay out of the pool.”

Despite the jokes and the jitters, Knight said the experience reinforced why the company continues to back the event — and why, this year, he decided to step onto the course himself.

“This weekend is about health and it’s about everyone,” he said. “It’s for individuals who just want to walk, if you want to run, if you want to do 13.1 miles or you want to try to do the Urban Challenge sponsored by The Health Plan. There is a different event for everyone and it’s about challenging yourself.”