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]