Alan Wells, a late starter as far as the road running activity, is preparing to compete in the Fifth Avenue Mile in Manhattan to be held during the fall. This Fifth Avenue Mile, in various categories determined by age, should attract some very good runners from all over the country, especially the East Coast.
Originally from Jamaica, West Indies, where he played soccer and cricket during his high school days, Wells, now making his home in Orlando, Florida, came to New York to work and recently entered into a four-mile race in Bellmore, Long Island.
Although, he did not come out as a winner, the 48-year-old Wells finished ninth overall in a time of 22:17 in a race conducted by the Bellmore Striders Running Club and in the process captured his age-group category. He will be a force to be reckoned with in future races, but not in four-milers. He ran at a 5:35 pace and felt very comfortable for the entire distance.
Wells competes mainly in 1,500-meter or one-mile races in the metropolitan New York area. And when the opportunity becomes available he might jump into a longer distance races.
The recent four-mile race in Bellmore marked his second ever at this distance.
“I had good training for this Bellmore race,” he said after the event. “I started running at the age of 36 because I was big and fat at the time. That time, I weighed over 200 pounds. When I came to the United States I gave up playing soccer and cricket, my sports while in Jamaica.”
He trains primarily on the track at Riverside Park on the west side of Manhattan around 145th Street and was well prepared for the Long Island race.
Running is not his entire life, for his occupation is being a bank manager at Valley National Bank in Manhattan.
Meantime, in the huge field, 24-year-old Chris Heibell of New Jersey ran at a 5:01 pace and crossed the finish line along the streets in Bellmore in 20:01.
