Collegiates and pros thrive as one at Furman University, where a unique arrangement combines a proffessional running group and a collegiate program under the same coaching staff. Chris Borch is a big reason for the success.
* * *
Half a century ago the Furman University men’s track and cross country program was dominant in the Southern Conference. Though success on the track waned in the 1970s and 1980, Furman continued to field solid distance squads and competed well in cross country. But an eventual series of budget cuts curtailed athletic scholarships, and recruiting strong athletes to the small, expensive private school proved a daunting challenge.
Enter Chris Borch, a 1978 graduate of Furman, who had earned a spot on the Paladin cross country team as a walk-on in 1974. It was tradition back then for each harrier to receive a pair of blue Onitsuka Tiger (now Asics) running shoes upon making the team. The symbolic gesture resonated with Borch, who improved enough that year to set a freshman three-mile record of 13:51 on the track.
“I just had a magical first year,” Borch says. “I got a small scholarship that allow me to stay at Furman and get a great education, and I learned several life lessons. The first of those is to set a goal, work hard and don’t give up. That’s hard not to learn as a distance runner.”
Now a successful California businessman who founded Micro-Mechanics, an international electronic technology company, Borch wanted to give something back to his alma mater and knew he could play a role in revitalizing the cross country and track programs.
“I always looked forward to doing something for Furman,” Borch says, “because I believe the non-revenue sports are gifts. But they can slip away, and opportunities that I had as a young man at Furman wouldn’t necessarily be available to other young men and women if we didn’t work to create a sustainable funding base, and hence scholarships.”
Borch’s vision was the Blue Shoes scholarship program, which he and his wife, Andrea, founded in 2005. An initial contribution from them was followed by donations from hundreds of other Furman alums and friends, and the endowment has gradually grown. To date, $4 million has been raised, enough to support several scholarships and provide for needed improvements.
In 2007, Furman hosted the inaugural Blue Shoes Elite Mile, contested during the annual Furman Invitational. Alan Webb was the headliner, and he thrilled hundreds of spectators with his victory in 3:57.83, the first sub-4:00 mile run on South Carolina soil. At the 2014 edition of the meet, which is now known as the Blue Shoes Invitational, Furman Elite team member Michael Hammond won the mile in 3:57.70 and was the first of six athletes to dip under 4 minutes.
The Blue Shoes initiative has brought new life to Furman track and cross country, not only through scholarships and facility improvements but through the excitement of new running events and world class athletes coming to Greenville. “We knew Furman could achieve something big in distance running,” Borch says. “It has great academics and a great environment for running. What we needed was the resources and the coaching to lead us there, and now we’ve got those things. And if we turn out some Olympians from the Elite program, and later even from the collegiate program, that’s going to be a big deal.”
