Class of 2008

Steve Bosley

/ runningincolorado
photo: University of CO

photo: University of CO

Steve Bosley is the founder and former executive director of the renowned Bolder Boulder 10K, and former Bank of Boulder president. The University of Colorado regent was the senior referee for the men’s and women’s marathons during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. Steve has been recognized as a U.S. Race Director of the Year, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Running USA Hall of Fame and the Colorado Distance Running Hall of Fame. He has coached youth soccer, YMCA basketball and Odyssey of the Mind. He was a founding member of the Boulder Options youth-at-risk program, and was a Boy Scouts volunteer and adviser. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Steve has distinguished himself by receiving an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the College of Business, Entrepreneur of the Year and many other awards.

photo: dailycamera.com

photo: dailycamera.com

Arturo Barrios

/ runningincolorado / 1 Comment
photo: jkrunning.de

photo: jkrunning.de

Arturo Barrios rose to fame in the early ’80s setting his first world record in 1986 in the 10,000m road race. 1987 saw Barrios set the world record for the four-mile road race. Between 1987 and 1990, Arturo won the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race, considered the largest footrace in the world, four consecutive times. Arturo competed in the 1988 Olympic games, placing fifth in the 10,000m. In 1989 he broke the world record for the 10,000m track race by over five seconds with a time of 27:08:32. Arturo continued his remarkable running in 1991 when he set a new world record in the 20,000m on a track at 56:55:06. During that race, Barrios also became the first man to run a half marathon in less than an hour. The following year, Barrios returned to the Olympics in Barcelona to compete in the 10,000m and placed fifth. The Mexican National record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m, Barrios is still active in the running community.

photo: Getty

photo: Getty

Anthony Sandoval

/ runningincolorado
photo: Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

photo: Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Dr. Anthony Sandoval is a former world-class marathon runner, most noted for winning the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, the year the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Sandoval’s 2:10:19 performance was a U.S. Olympic Trials record. In addition, Anthony competed in the Olympic Trials in 1976. 1984, 1988, and 1992, but never qualified to compete at the Olympic games. In the late 1970s Sandoval worked towards becoming a medical doctor and competed in marathons on unusually light training. In September 1979, Sandoval finished the Nike/Oregon Track Club marathon tied with Jeff Wells with a time of 2:10:20, with the two runners crossing the finish line hand-in-hand. In the 1992 trials in Columbus, Ohio, Sandoval popped an Achilles tendon at 8 miles and was unable to finish. That was the last time Sandoval ran at an elite level. Sandoval was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame in 1999. Anthony is currently a cardiologist in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.

At the 1980 Olympic trials. Photo: Paul Sutton, Duomo

At the 1980 Olympic trials. Photo: Paul Sutton, Duomo

Melody Fairchild

/ runningincolorado
photo: MelodyFairchild.com

photo: MelodyFairchild.com

Melody Fairchild was called the greatest high school distance runner in U.S. history. She was the first high school girl in history to break 10 minutes in the 2-mile (9:55.9) and although she struggled initially at the University of Oregon in the mid-1990s, she came away a 3,000m indoor NCAA champion and an Olympic trials qualifier in the 10K. Melody Fairchild was considered a star constantly on the rise from her earliest years, until 2000, when after a disappointing showing at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, her name disappeared from race results for a decade. Fairchild, now 39 and living in Boulder, is rising once again and back at the top of the race results, this time on the trails. In 2012 she made the U.S. Mountain Running Team and went on to the World Mountain Running Championships in Italy, where she placed eighth, helping Team USA earn a gold medal for the first time since 2007. She then helped Team USA win another gold medal at the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge at the Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland. In 2007 she founded the Melody Fairchild Running Camp for High School Girls in an effort to help other athletes overcome the struggles she experienced first-hand in her own running career.Fairchild-500_edit

Ellen Hart

/ runningincolorado
photo: Kit Williams

photo: Kit Williams

Ellen Hart is a former world-class runner and lawyer. She competed in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000m, finishing third, the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials marathon, and held the U.S. record for the 30K and the world’s best time for the 20K. She has since obtained a law degree and practiced law, co-founded the Eating Disorders Foundation, served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, served as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and was married to former Denver Mayor Federico Peña. She was the subject of a made-for-television movie about her life, Dying to Be Perfect: the Ellen Hart Pena Story, which chronicled her battle with anorexia and bulimia. She has made an unprecedented comeback in the highly competitive world of marathons and triathlons. At 50, she finished first in her age division in the Clearwater Half Ironman Tournament. Since moving from runner to triathlete, Hart has easily won or ranked in nearly all the events she has entered, setting new course records in some of the more prestigious events.

photo: Kit Williams

photo: Kit Williams

Mark Plaatjes

/ runningincolorado
photo: Brooksrunning.com

photo: Brooksrunning.com

Mark Plaatjes was the marathon champion at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart. Born in South Africa under apartheid, Mark won two national titles at the marathon and two at cross-country. He ran a personal best marathon of 2:08:58 in 1985 in Port Elizabeth, but was unable to compete outside South Africa, barred from the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games due to the international boycott of South Africa. He sought political asylum in the United States in 1988. In 1993, Mark finished 6th in the Boston Marathon, qualifying for the U.S. team at the World Championships. In the greatest success of his career, Mark stole the lead in the last three minutes of the race at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart with a time of 2:13:57, becoming the first American to win a gold medal in a long-distance event at World Championships. Mark is the winner of 38 marathons worldwide and has made his home in Boulder, Colorado, where he is a coach, physical therapist, and the owner of Boulder Running Company.mark plaatjes

Steve Jones

/ runningincolorado
photo: pjstar.com

photo: pjstar.com

Steve Jones is a Welsh athlete and former world marathon record holder. He has won both the New York City and London Marathons, as well as the Chicago Marathon twice. He finished 8th in the 1984 Olympic 10,000m. In his first full marathon, he won the Chicago Marathon, coming in at 2:08:05 and thus breaking the world marathon record. In 1985 he achieved his career best marathon time of 2:07:13 in winning the Chicago Marathon, just missing the world record again by one second. This time remains the fastest of any British runner. In the 1988 New York City Marathon, Steve won by over three minutes with a time of 2:08:20. He was the first Welsh athlete to appear on the cover of the prestigious running magazine Running Times. Steve currently coaches runners through the training group Boulder Express.

photo: welshathletics.com

photo: welshathletics.com