In just his second marathon, Fujimoto ran an excellent 2:07:57 breakthrough for 8th at the 2018 Chicago Marathon. At the MGC he was only 9th, but he quickly rebounded to finish as the top Japanese placer at Fukuoka the same season. Fujimoto was 2nd across the finish line in that race, but the Moroccan who got there first was later disqualified for doping violations, elevating Fujimoto to the winner's position.
After that Fujimoto had problems with injuries, but while he struggled to perform in marathons he was as good as ever in the ekiden. Even so, a year and a half ago he made the decision to retire at the end of the 2021-22 season. "I feel like I've done what I'd set out to do," he said. "I don't feel envious of the great times the younger guys are running anymore." At the Tokyo Marathon he ran with the lead Japanese women's group, finishing in 2:22:54.
Fujimoto got divorced shortly before the Chicago Marathon four years ago, making him a single father to two daughters in nursery school, Anri, now 8, and Kanna, 7. He thought about retiring after Chicago in order to focus on raising them, but when he cleared the MGC qualifying standard there in PB time he decided to keep going. Ever since he's had to balance his roles as a single parent and an athlete.
In order for his daughters not to get upset and start crying if they woke up and found their daddy not there, Fujimoto moved his morning training earlier. When the schedule called for a 30 km run he'd start it at 1:30 a.m. When he was done he'd help his kids get up, make them breakfast, and make their lunches for them to take. When afternoon practice was over he had to go pick them up from pre-school, make them dinner, give them baths, and make sure they went to bed.
It was a demanding schedule. But, Fujimoto said, "I got a lot better in the kitchen, and I started to learn that if you're willing to do whatever it takes, you can learn to do just about anything. I made learning about food a priority." Frozen meals disappeared from his fridge, and he started learning how to make desserts and sweets to make his girls happy. His specialty is a strawberry tart that would make any pro proud.
But his household duties meant a lot more time on his feet, and that led to muscle strain and fatigue that in turn led to injuries. He also couldn't go away to training camps anymore, but no matter how hard it got Fujimoto stayed positive. "You could look at it and find a lot of negatives in relation to my athletic career," he said. "but having this kind of life taught me about getting through the toughest times."
After the Lake Biwa Marathon in February last year Fujimoto re-married, bringing his single parenting years to a halt. His new wife is Koharu Yonemoto, 31, bronze medalist in women's doubles at the 2018 World Badminton Championships. The couple met while they were both undergoing injury rehabilitation at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences. In January this year they had a daughter, Yuna.
"I'd forgotten how happy it can make you feel just to have someone there to say, 'Welcome home!' when you walk through the door," he says. "Up to now I'd always picked the girls up and we'd gone home together, and it was always an argument whether I should say, 'Welcome home,' or 'We're back!'"
When Anri was in 2nd grade she had to write about her goals. "I want to beat my dad the marathon runner," she wrote. "When I saw that I thought to myself, 'Yeah, it was a good thing that you kept running up to now,'" Fujimoto said, smiling the smile of the truly content.
Translator's note: Single-father households are still very unusual in Japan, estimated to make up less than 15% of the country's single-parent families.
translated by Brett Larner
photo © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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