Steve Bosley (2025) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

Steve Bosley

Induction:
2025

The co-founder and former executive director of the BOLDERBOULDER 10k in 1979, Steve Bosley has been a longtime friend and supporter of CU athletics … The former Bank of Boulder president – he worked in Colorado’s banking and finance industry for over 35 years – is also a former University of Colorado Regent … His relationship with CU predates the race, however: for the 1977 Orange Bowl, Bosley coordinated fundraising through the bank to sponsor Ralphie and her handlers to make the trip to Miami (raising over five times the goal -- equal to $75,000 today, with the excess donated to CU athletics and to Ralphie’s care) … Bosley and the Bank purchased and then donated a buffalo calf who became Ralphie II; she replaced the original Ralphie for the 1978 season finale … After the ‘80 race, Bosley was approached by then-athletic director Eddie Crowder, who had an idea to have the race end inside CU’s Folsom Field; Bosley agreed and a partnership that remains to this day was born (over 52,000 participated in the most recent BOLDER in May) … Since 1981 when the finish line was on the north end of the field, over 1.5 million runners, joggers and walkers have crossed it … Thus, the race has become an exciting part of CU Boulder’s campus history and tradition … Official starters of the race have included several CU luminaries (e.g., athletic directors, coaches, Olympians, chancellors) … Through the years he regularly hired student-athletes to work both at the bank and for race … The race has donated thousands of dollars to CU’s cross country and track programs in various ways, including matching funds checked off by the race’s registrants … The race also created the “I LOVE CU” wave, a special University of Colorado wave, and when the International Team Challenge was inaugurated in 1998, several Buffalo alums were invited to represent U.S. teams in the event (and often teams solely made up of CU running legends) … Outside of the Summer Olympics, no other road race has a finish line inside a stadium or a larger crowd watching the finish (or one that is louder) … He soon merged the finish of the race – the second largest 10k in the nation – with the country’s largest Memorial Day celebration (created by the BOLDERBoulder), complete with a fighter jet flyover and skydivers, while honoring numerous veterans through the years as nearly 50,000 people pack Folsom Field every last Monday in May … The exposure the university receives between the race and the Memorial Day events is likely invaluable … He was elected to two six-year terms as a CU regent, serving from 2005 through 2016, and was a devoted friend and ally of athletics working closely with three athletic directors as he was the vice chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee … He was the senior referee for the men’s and women’s marathons during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta … He has coached youth soccer, YMCA basketball and Odyssey of the Mind, was a founding member of the Boulder Options youth-at-risk program, and was a Boy Scouts volunteer and adviser … He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate (in 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the school, and in 2018, the Leeds School of Business presented him with the Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Service Award) … Honored as an Entrepreneur of the Year along with many other awards … A former U.S. Race Director of the Year, he was selected in the inaugural class of Running USA’s Hall of Champions in 2004, inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in its second class in 2008 … He received an "Honorary C" letter from CU Athletics in 2017 … A 50-year football season ticket holder (starting in 1975) and added basketball season tix along the way … He is father of five married children – including son Cliff who is now the director of the BOLDERBOULDER – and 13 grandchildren … He was born in Lincoln, Neb., in 1942, and relocated to Colorado in 1965, where he has remained since.