Jeff Wells

Last updated

Jeff Wells (born 25 May 1954 [1] [2] ) is a marathon runner and pastor, originally from Madisonville, Texas, United States.

Contents

Early life and education

Wells attended Rice University, majored in history, and was named an All-American four times in cross country and track. [3]

Running

Wells finished first in the 1976 Houston Marathon, [2] the 1976 Dallas White Rock Marathon, [2] the 1977 Honolulu Marathon, [1] the 1977 [2] and 1979 Nike OTC Marathons, [4] the 1980 Stockholm Marathon, [1] and the 1985 Wang New Zealand Marathon. [2]

He came in second place to Bill Rodgers, by just two seconds, in the closest Boston Marathon finish to date, at the 1978 Boston Marathon, finishing in his fastest-ever marathon time of 2:10:15. [1] Wells's time was either the third- or fourth-fastest by an American to that date, behind three runs by Rodgers, one of which was on a New York Marathon course later found to be shorter than the standard marathon length.

He finished fifth, in 2:13:16, at the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Buffalo, New York, and fourth in the Olympic Trials 10,000-meter run in the same year. [2]

He was the top American finisher, finishing 24th overall, at the 1977 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race. [3]

Pastor

Wells is the founding pastor of the WoodsEdge Community Church in Spring, Texas. [5]

Achievements

Source: ARRS [2]

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
1976 Houston Marathon Houston, Texas 1stMarathon2:17:46
White Rock Marathon Dallas, Texas 1stMarathon2:15:11
1977 Nike OTC Marathon Eugene, Oregon 1stMarathon2:13:15
Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:18:37
1978 Boston Marathon Boston, Massachusetts 2ndMarathon2:10:15
1979 Nike OTC Marathon Eugene, Oregon 1st (tied)Marathon2:10:20
1980 Stockholm Marathon Stockholm, Sweden 1stMarathon2:15:49
1985Wang New Zealand Marathon Auckland, New Zealand1stMarathon2:16:43

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathon world record progression</span>

World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Benoit</span> American distance runner

Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberto Salazar</span> Cuban-born American long-distance runner, and later, track coach

Alberto Salazar is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school. Salazar won the New York City Marathon three times in the early 1980s, and won the 1982 Boston Marathon in a race known as the "Duel in the Sun". He set American track records for 5,000 m and 10,000 m in 1982. Salazar was later the head coach of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the IAAF Coaching Achievement Award in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rodgers (runner)</span> American distance runner

William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliud Kipchoge</span> Kenyan long-distance runner (born 1984)

Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Kipchoge is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Kipchoge has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Hall (runner)</span> American long-distance runner

Ryan Hall is a retired American long-distance runner who holds the U.S. record in the half marathon. With his half marathon record time (59:43), he became the first U.S. runner to break the one-hour barrier in the event. He is also the only American to run a sub-2:05 marathon. However, this time is not eligible to be a record due to the course being point-to-point and a net-downhill course. Hall won the marathon at the 2008 United States Olympic trials and placed tenth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Robert "Mwafrika" Kipkoech Cheruiyot, sometimes known as Omar Ahmed, is a Kenyan marathon runner and is the former record holder and four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.

Benji Durden is a Boulder, Colorado based runner and former running coach who came to prominence as a distance runner in the early 1980s, at the height of the American running boom. Durden was a member of the 1980 Summer Olympics United States marathon team, placing second against what to that point was perhaps the deepest field of American marathoners ever assembled. With a personal record of 2:09:57, Durden recorded 25 sub-2:20 marathons in less than a decade. He ranked among the top ten US marathoners six straight years, reaching seventh in the world in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kara Goucher</span> American long-distance runner

Kara Goucher is an American long-distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third the following year at the Boston Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Kipyego</span> Kenyan-born American long- and middle-distance runner

Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego is a Kenyan-born American long- and middle-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the silver medalist in the same race at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She has a personal record of 30:38.35 minutes for that event and her 5000 metres best of 14:30.42 minutes makes her the second fastest Kenyan woman for the distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Smith (runner)</span> New Zealand runner

Kimberley Smith is a New Zealand middle-distance and long-distance runner who retired in 2016.

Anthony "Tony" B. Sandoval is a former world-class marathon runner, most noted for winning the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, in the year the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Sandoval's 2:10:19 performance in Buffalo, New York, on May 24, 1980, was a US Olympic Trials record and faster than the 1980 Olympic Marathon winning time of 2:11:03.

Ron Tabb is a retired male long-distance runner from the United States, who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the men's marathon. He won the 1981 edition of the Paris Marathon ex-æquo with England's Dave Cannon. He won the 1983 Beijing Marathon and competed at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics later that year, finishing in 18th place overall. He qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but never competed due to the U.S. boycott on the Moscow Games that year. He once held the fifth fastest marathon time ever run by an American. Tabb is a four time United States Olympic trials qualifier. He is one of only four Americans to run more than 20 marathons under 2:20 and he is one of two Americans to a win major marathon on five different continents.

Kim Merritt is a former American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiree Linden</span> American long-distance runner

Desiree "Des" Nicole Linden is an American long-distance runner. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event. She holds the women's 50K world record of 2:59:54.

Garry Brian Bjorklund is an American middle- and long-distance runner. He represented the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 meters. As a high schooler, he set a Minnesota state record for the mile run which lasted 39 years. At the University of Minnesota, he won the 1971 national championship in the six-mile run, and won numerous conference championships in various disciplines. Following his 1976 Summer Olympics appearance, Bjorklund became a marathon runner, and set a national age group record in 1980.

Martha "Marty" Cooksey is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 5000 meters to the marathon. She achieved her marathon best time of 2:35:42 hours at the American Olympic Trials in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jemima Sumgong</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Jemima Jelagat Sumgong is a Kenyan long-distance runner specialising in marathon races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Estrada (runner)</span> Mexican-American long-distance runner

Juan Diego Estrada Constantino is a Mexican-American long-distance runner. He competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for Mexico. After some confusion about his eligibility after becoming a U.S. citizen, he was excluded from the U.S. Olympic trials even though it was later known that Estrada was misinformed on his eligibility possibilities. Estrada resides in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Frank Richardson is a retired marathon runner who competed during the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering his first races in the late 1970s, Richardson was 4th at the 1976 NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and 1st at the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters. In World Marathon Majors, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and did not complete the 1980 Boston event. That year, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a course record time of 2:15:15 and was 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. In other events, Richardson won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships and was 9th in the marathon at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. After ending his marathon career in 1985, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before resuming road racing in 2001.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jeff Wells and the Boston Marathon". marathon-training-program.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "ARRS - Runner: Jeff Wells". arrs.run.
  3. 1 2 "Athlete profile for Jeff Wells - iaaf.org". iaaf.org.
  4. Moore, Kenny (September 17, 1979). "The Quick In A Dead Heat". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  5. "Staff". woodsedge.org. Archived from the original on 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2015-11-18.