Women's Marathon Pioneer Michiko Gorman Passed Away at age 80

A photo posted by danielle mika nagel (@daniellemikayoga) on Sep 16, 2015 at 10:41am PDT

A legendary woman marathon runner passed away September 19. Ms. Michio or "Miki" Suwa Gorman was a trailblazer in the early days of Japan's women marathon who reigned twice both in the New York City and Boston Marathons. She died of cancer in Bellingham, Washington. She was the Hall of Famer of the Road Runners Club of America, USATF Masters and the National Distance Running.

Born in Qingdao, Shandong, China, in 1935, Michiko Gorman grew up in Fukushima, Japan and moved to the United States in 1964. She married Michael Gorman shortly afterwards. She took up running in her early 30's to gain weight.
In 1974, she won the Boston Marathon in a women's course record of 2:47:11 clocking under 3 hours for the first time. At age 40 and 41, respectively, Michiko won the New York City Marathon twice. She marked her best personal record in 1976 with a time of 2:39:11. the second fastest women marathon runner, a minute shy of the world record.

A film was made of her life in 1981 " Little Champion" (My champion" in US video) starring Chris Mitchum.

Michiko Gorman ran on invitation in the 1st Tokyo International Marathon in 1979 at age 44 and marked 2:54:09 placing 16th. The Town of Minami Aizu commemorates her with the "Furusato Health Marathon" competing for the "Gorman Cup". Her eldest daughter Mika tells in her blog that Michiko was clad in the T-Shirt made in memory of the marathon in her deathbed. Michio had spent her childhood days in this town and often visited there to coach the local marathon runners.

A great many women marathon runners were inspired by her to take up running in Japan. Japan's women's marathon owes to Michiko Gorman and her memorable runs much of its reputation as a land of women marathon runners and overall achievements over the years.