WHEELING – Members of the Wheeling Park High School cross country team already are trained and pumped to run, and they brought their energy to the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic Run on Sunday.

They also brought with them a family history of running and participating in the event.

Rylan Moore, Brooks Wharry and Jacob Breightenger stood anxious to start just before the race began.

“I’ve just seen my dad do it, and I wanted to do it,” said Moore. “I just wanted to run it because it’s a big deal.”

His father, Ricky Moore, participated in many of the races. The younger Moore said he watched many of the videos of his father running when he was in high school and college.

“For me, it’s about the community coming out to support their community race and their community members,” Wharry added.

Breightenger agreed the race is important for Wheeling.

“It’s part of your life – that’s the main reason,” he said. Breightener noted he often runs with his mother, Amanda Breightenger.

The three-some already run and train on a regular basis, so they really didn’t need to change much of their regular routine to get ready for the race.

They also don’t worry about changes in their eating habits.

“We just run our normal mileage, and get a couple of extra workouts in,” Wharry said. “That’s about it.”

Wharry noted his family has often been involved in running, and that his father Matt has run the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic seven times.