Delaware marathoner overcoming life’s obstacle course

Andrew Weller galloped across the Delaware Marathon’s 26.2 miles on Mother’s Day morning in Wilmington, putting additional distance on the personal strife that once slowed him.

Finishing second overall in 2:46:44 in his first road race of any kind?

That was just a delightful and unexpected bonus for the 20-year-old Bear resident, who credits his infatuation with running for clearing his head and putting his life back on a proper path.

“He’s gone through a lot of in his life and is about the nicest kid you’ll ever meet, so it was great to see,” said friend and co-worker Zach Geiser, who watched Weller cross the finish line that warm, sunny morning at Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park.

Now, Weller hopes it could help him land on college cross country and track teams.

First though, Weller has to finish high school, which he expects to do this fall through Back to Basics Learning Dynamics, a private tutoring program.

He attended five different New Castle County high schools, including spending one spring on the track team at St. Georges and one fall on the cross country squad at Caravel. But the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, some social anxiety issues and the unexpected death of his father, Randy, in 2012 repeatedly undermined Weller’s attempts to stay in school.

“I would have anxiety attacks trying to go to school,” he said. “My grades had always been good. Just getting to school and trying to stay calm was the problem.”

But Wellman enjoyed keeping a conditioning regimen, and lifted weights and ran on the treadmill at 1614 Fitness on U.S. 40, where he’d been a regular since his early teens and also worked part-time.

In fact, he ran so much that Dino Capp, the facility’s co-owner and general manager, had some advice for Weller late last summer. He suggested he run the Delaware Marathon, held each May in Wilmington.

“Andrew would run 10 miles at a clip on the treadmill and not even bat an eye,” Capp said. “Then he started running outside and he would send me pictures of his watch [which has a GPS]. It would say he ran 13, 19, 20 miles. He was always running more and more.

“One day I said ‘Listen, Andrew. You do such a good job and you’re so focused. Why don’t you put it to the ultimate test? The Delaware Marathon.’ ”

Weller quickly signed up, and went outside and starting running more, churning out 90 miles some weeks last fall. His running improved dramatically, and some of the clouds over his soul began to lift, too.

“Running has helped me overcome my father’s death, as well as my eating disorder,” said Weller, who was hospitalized for two weeks when he was 16 when his weight dipped below 135. He now carries 150 pounds on his 6-foot frame.

“It kind of helps me break the isolation and the depression and anxiety. [I] just get everything out of my head during my runs,” added Weller, who prefers to keep details about his father’s death private.

Weller charged through the snowy winter, piling up miles outside with some of his former Caravel running mates or inside on the treadmill at 1614. He twice knocked out 30-mile training runs.

“Rain, sleet, snow, ice or bitter cold, he went out there,” said Weller’s mother, Donna Woudstra. “I would beg him: ‘Don’t go out there!’ But he would go out. He was totally dedicated to getting ready for that marathon.”

The day of the Delaware Marathon, Weller’s goal was to break three hours and five minutes, which would qualify him for the Boston Marathon. He was so excited, he zipped through his first mile in 5:20, which equates to about a 2:20 marathon.

“At the three-mile mark, I knew I was going to die or have a really good time,” he said. “I stayed sub-six [minutes per mile] for a while, then went up to low sixes. After mile 13 I did some sub-sixes again.

“Then, at mile 20, I hit a brick wall. I contemplated stopping. I was really close to stopping. I just told myself, ‘Keep going, it’s going to be OK, just got to get through this wall.’ It got a little better but those last six miles weren’t fun. I was glad I made it through.”

At one point on the weaving, hilly, two-loop course, eventual winner Titus Rotich, who ran a sizzling 2:21:37, passed Weller going the opposite direction.

“He gave me a high five and said ‘Looking good!’ ” Weller said. “I’m just looking at him and thinking ‘If I’m looking good, you’re looking amazing.’ ”

Weller was still able to sprint, with considerable glee, to the finish line.

Among those watching were Geiser and his mother Lisa, who called it “one of the most inspiring moments of my life,” knowing the personal struggles Weller battled.

“He set his mind to something and he achieved it,” Geiser said. “Andrew is one of the most respectful, caring and giving people I’ve ever met. Knowing what Andrew had been through, it was such a huge accomplishment for him.”

Capp, a father of two who was busy with family activities, received regular text updates of Weller’s progress during the marathon and, as proud as he was elated, spoke with him afterward.

“Andrew is an inspiration to me,” said Capp, who calls Weller the most trusted employee he has ever had. “He has overcome so much and his stick-to-itiveness is to be admired. Any other person his age would have taken the easy route and quit by now. He didn’t. He showed a tremendous amount of moxie. He had so many opportunities to give up and didn’t.”

Weller, who has already been contacted by some college coaches, hopes to attend an out-of-state four-year school that offers nursing as an academic major and fields both cross country and track teams. He has not run any races since the Delaware Marathon, and isn’t entered in any upcoming events, as he waits to see what transpires collegiately. But he may enter a fall marathon and, if he is not on a college campus in the spring, run Boston in April.

While uncertainties remain, Weller is sure that, with his running shoes laced up, he’s going places.

“It’s just totally amazing,” Woudstra said. “He rose above all his challenges and now I have hope for his future. He has so much potential”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.