Trailblazers: Miki Gorman and Toshi d'Elia Were Ahead of Their Time
Michiko "Miki" Gorman and Toshiko "Toshi" d'Elia were barrier-breaking Asian American women runners who came to prominence in the 1970s. Both came to running later in life, and both defied expectations and overcame stereotypes of age, gender, and cultural background. As part of our celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we honor their legacies and celebrate their accomplishments.
Learn more about Miki Gorman by tuning in to the latest episode of Habitual Routine: The Long-Distance Runner’s Podcast, available on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Miki Gorman: Barrier Breaker
Miki Gorman won the 1976 New York City Marathon when she was 41 years old, a mom, and one of only a handful of elite female runners competing in the United States. That she was also an Asian American woman in a sport that was overwhelmingly white and male made Miki nearly one-of-a-kind in her era.
Nothing intimidated Miki, who returned to New York in 1977 to defend her title and also won the Boston Marathon in 1974 and 1977. She’s still the only woman to have won both the New York City and Boston marathons twice; the photo below shows her with the 1976 New York laurel wreath.
“She had so much ambition, so much drive,” said her daughter, Danielle Nagel. “For her, running was empowerment.”
Miki was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2010 and the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2012. Yet for all her accomplishments, she remains overlooked as a women’s distance running pioneer. In 2018, the New York Times published her obituary three years after her death as part of its “Overlooked” series.
Michiko Suwa was born in 1935 to Japanese parents in occupied China. The family moved back to Japan in 1945 and lived in poverty during the post-war years. “They did not have a privileged life,” said Danielle, noting that the family lived in one room and routinely ate only one meal a day. When an opportunity arose for Miki to move to the U.S. as an au pair, she took it, eventually settling in Los Angeles in her early 30s.
A few years later her boyfriend—whom she later married—encouraged her to try exercise classes at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. She found the classes boring but was intrigued by the club’s indoor running track and was soon running lap after lap after lap, on her own, with little idea of time or pace.
Miki ran her first race on that track, a 24-hour event where the goal was to complete 100 miles. She fell short, but tried again the following year. This time she finished—the only woman to do so.
The number of women running in Southern California at the time was minuscule, and Miki recalled that she sometimes “got dirty looks” on her runs. In 1973, things began to change after another Los Angeles woman, Jacqueline Hansen, won the Boston Marathon. Her accomplishment inspired Miki, who trained for and won the 1973 Culver City Marathon in a world record time.
Success empowered Miki. “When you think of her upbringing, then to be an elite athlete, to be really good at something regardless of her race, her gender, her age, her size—I mean, she was killing it,” said Danielle. “At her core, she was a fighter and a competitor.”
She added, “I don’t know if at the time she recognized how significant it was for her to be this Asian American elite athlete breaking ceilings. It’s almost as if she was able to transcend that barrier of identity. She was like, I’m a runner, I’m really fast, you all better keep up.”
Miki’s success was lauded in Japan, and a Japanese film company made a movie about her life in 1981. Her childhood village started an annual 10K race in her honor, and she returned as often as she could to greet runners at the finish line. Her accomplishments inspired a generation of Japanese women runners, who have collectively won more world championship medals (11) than any other country.
Miki broke barriers of age, gender, and ethnicity and her achievements continue to inspire. “She was an influential athlete,” said Danielle, “and an influential person.”
Toshi d'Elia: Making a Mark
When Toshi d’Elia crossed the finish line of the 1980 World Veterans Marathon Championship in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2:57:25 she became the first 50-year-old woman in the world to run under 3 hours for the marathon. This was just another running acclaim for the soft-spoken but determined and steely-focused Japanese American runner who accrued many national and international records in her long career.
Toshi started running at age 40 when she wanted to build stamina for mountain climbing. Her daughter, Erica, then captain of the girls high school cross country team in their town of Ridgewood NJ, taught Toshi to run and entered her with the team in a meet, thinking her mom would finish last. Toshi came in third.
Toshiko Kishimoto was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1930. She and her family suffered near-starvation during the postwar years; her mother would stand in a food line all day and come home with a yam to feed six people.
Determined to get an education, Toshi won a Fulbright scholarship to study at Syracuse University. She earned a masters in special education for the hearing impaired, married, and had a baby. Six months later her husband left her. She returned briefly to Japan, where her father tried to get her to give up her daughter for adoption and enter into an arranged marriage. Her mother told Toshi she must go back to the U.S. and make a life for herself.
She found fulfillment in a second marriage, in motherhood, in her career in education—and in running. Through NYRR races in Central Park she met Fred Lebow, Nina Kuscsik, Ted Corbitt, and others. Under the guidance of NYRR coach Bob Glover she ran the 1976 Boston Marathon in 3:15 and six months later finished the first five-borough New York City Marathon in 3:08, placing third. The winner was another over-40 Japanese American woman, Miki Gorman. Both women wore kimonos to the awards ceremony.
Toshi continued to improve, balancing 100-mile weeks with teaching full time at the School for the Deaf in Westchester County and caring for her family. She competed in NYRR races over four decades and won NYRR Runner of the Year honors in her age group an astonishing 27 times; she's pictured below with one of her many awards. In 1980 she received the Paavo Nurmi Award from Runner’s World and in 1997 she was inducted into the USA Track & Field Masters Hall of Fame. She set a world indoor age-group record of 7:19 in the mile in 2001 at age 71.
Throughout her running career Toshi inspired awe not only for her achievements but also for her toughness. At a masters 10K championship in New Haven, she was going for an age division course record when she was knocked down at halfway. Cradling a bruised arm, she ran on, set the record, and went to the medical tent, where she was found to have a broken bone.
When she returned to Japan in 1980, her visit became national news. She was invited to speak at a Women’s World Sports Symposium in Tokyo, and later a movie about her life was released in Japan.
Toshi never forgot her Japanese roots. She followed a diet of sushi, rice balls, seaweed, and miso, and subscribed to a Japanese running magazine for workouts and tips on nutrition and gear. She followed an Eastern philosophy and practiced tai chi and yoga. When she completed a race, she would give her feet a gentle massage and thank them for carrying her the distance.
Toshi viewed running as a gift that needed to be nourished and cherished like a dear friend. “I want to hold on to my friend as long as I can,” she often said.
At Toshi’s memorial service in 2014, Erica made T-shirts that read “Run Like Toshi.” Indeed, we’d do well to not only run like Toshi but live like her, too.