Miki Gorman, pioneer woman marathoner of the 1970s, Boston and New York City champion, died September 19, 2015, at age 80
Miki (Michiko) Gorman, a pioneer woman marathon runner of the 1970s, died on September 19 in Bellingham, Washington, at age 80 after a five-year battle with cancer.
Gorman, a Japanese-born American, won the Boston and New York City marathons in the mid-1970s, playing an important role in keeping American runners and races at the forefront of the newly established women’s marathon. She set the world’s fastest time by a woman in a certified marathon race in 1973 (2:46:36), and a world best for the half marathon in 1978 (1:15:58). In 1976, she also ran what was then history’s second-fastest marathon time, 2:39:11, which was her personal record.