Skip to main content

Fujiwara, 2nd in 2:07:48: "I Went Out for Korean Barbecue"

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120227-909700.html

translated by Brett Larner

After finishing 2nd overall as the top Japanese man at the 2012 Tokyo Marathon, Arata Fujiwara (30, Tokyo T&F Assoc.) spoke happily the morning after the race.  Last night he broke his week-long ban on drinking alcohol, raising celebratory cups until "an hour when athletes aren't supposed to be up.  I wanted to eat meat, any kind, so I went out for Korean barbecue.  I had a craving for red meat so I had five or six people's worth of harami.  It tasted.....pretty normal," he said with a laugh.

Having set a new PB of 2:07:48 in Tokyo Fujiwara is certain to make the London Olympics team.  "I'm thinking about the blueprint for where to go next," he said.  "For the time being I'm just going to do nothing at all but take it easy for a week," he said as he looks forward to his recovery.  A measure of the sensation his run has caused: "My Facebook has gone so crazy that I don't know what to do," he laughed.

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Some stats on Fujiwara's performance:

-3rd time finishing 2nd in Tokyo (2008, 2010, 2012)

-fastest 2nd half in field: 1:04:27

-fastest last 2.195k in field: 6:41

-12th Japanese man to break 2:08; all-time #7

-10th Japanese man to break 2:09 more than once

-8th Japanese man to break 2:10 more than three times

-3rd Japanese man to break 2:09 more than once and win overseas sub-2:10 (along with Takeyuki Nakayama and Toshihiko Seko)
Matt said…
Sounds like a great race, and celebration for a great performance. Looking forward to Fujiwara at the Olympics.

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .