Nearly three decades ago, UD alum Bob Poulson decided to make Japan his home. He launched an exciting career there, raised a family–and found a great place to run.

Bob Poulson, AS '69, has always had a passion for running. In college, he was on the track and field team–although, for various reasons, his college years were not the high point of his running career. Injuries were a problem then, and, in the late '60s, the University of Delaware campus was vibrant with all sorts of diversions. "Plus," Poulson says, "you couldn't have long hair or a beard when you were on the team."

These days, a clean-shaven Poulson can boast that he is the national United States Masters Track and Field champion, having placed first in the 10,000-meter event for his age group (50-54) two years in a row. "I'm a much better runner now than I was in college," he says.

Poulson does most of his running on the other side of the planet. For 27 years, he has been a resident of Japan, where he works as a freelance advertising copywriter. Picking up one's life and moving to Japan permanently may sound like a major deal to most Americans. However, Poulson says, his decision was simple.

After completing his degree in English, Poulson joined the U.S. Navy, which whisked him off to a base in Japan. Poulson remained in the service there for three years. "I was a spy--a low-level spy--and my job included listening to Russian Morse Code," Poulson says. "It was kind of fun, actually. Even being on a ship for a year was not too bad, since, as a 'spy,' I didn't have to swab the decks and such. And, because it was the admiral's ship, we made courtesy port calls, so I saw all the major Asian cities on the Pacific."

Instead of enthusiastically heading home after his discharge, Poulson decided to stay in Japan for a while. "There wasn't anything in particular that I wanted to do back in the States," he recalls.

Around that time, Poulson joined a few friends who were starting up a company in Tokyo. One of the services the company offered was advertising, and Poulson decided to try his hand at copywriting.

"I just learned as I went," Poulson says. Soon, he realized that copywriting was his calling, and he made it his career. Then, 12 years ago, Poulson began freelance copywriting, calling his one-man company Roadrunner, a reference to his passion for running. His slogan: "Tokyo's fastest copywriter."

Poulson considers himself an advertising generalist. He creates all kinds of advertising--including ads, catalogs, newsletters, annual reports and web sites--for Japanese companies marketing their products overseas. He also designs materials directed at foreigners who live in Japan.

There are not many English-language freelance writers in Tokyo. "So, the companies farm their work out to people like me, who are fairly reliable and quick. And, because I can talk to people in Japanese, get the information and produce it in English, it's a nice little niche market.

"Right now, I'm writing an ad for United Airlines for an English-language newspaper in Japan," Poulson says. "For overseas markets, I write catalogs for products like Yamaha audio equipment, Alpine car audio, Minolta cameras, Epson printers--lots of the well-known things that Japanese companies export."

Poulson is part of a group called the Forum for Corporate Communications (FCC), a Tokyo-based organization of international communications professionals. For 18 years, the FCC has conducted the Tokyo Ad Show--Japan's only English-language ad contest--in which contestants can win awards in seven categories, including television and web site advertising. Currently, Poulson is the "judging chair," overseeing 18 judges. In past years, he himself has won several gold awards and one Grand Prix award.

Poulson and his wife of 22 years, Eiko, live in the suburbs of Tokyo, in a house Poulson describes as small by American standards, but perfectly respectable for Japan. Here, they reared their daughter, Jennifer, who is now entering her sophomore year at the University of Washington. Eiko has a small business teaching English at home to neighborhood children.

"Land prices are extremely exorbitant in Tokyo," says Poulson. "Most houses have no front or back yards and only small side yards. The apartments here are smaller, too, but, it's OK. You accept this as being part of the Japan experience and it's not a hardship."

Tokyo is a wonderful place to run, Poulson says, and there are many road races to enter. Poulson is part of a foreigners' running club known as Namban Rengo, which translates as "barbarian horde." Members originate from all parts of the world, including America, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong and New Zealand. The group of about 50 runners trains together once a week and runs in about six relay races a year, as well as other races.

Relay races, called "ekiden," are very popular in Japan. "The word, 'ekiden,' is even being used in America and other countries to describe a long road relay race, usually 40 or 50 kilometers, with five or six people running. Those are a lot of fun," Poulson says.

Poulson runs in U.S. events when he is stateside. His mother lives on Long Island, where Poulson grew up, and he comes to visit her and travel about the U.S. for three weeks a year.

His first success in the U.S. Masters Track and Field Championship occurred when he was visiting colleges three years ago with his daughter. He and Jennifer planned their trip so that, after looking at schools in Boston and Maine, Poulson was able to enter a Masters meet that was being held at the University of Maine.

"I'm the first to admit that the best 50-year-old runners in America were not in that race," Poulson says. "For example, Bill Rodgers, a famous American runner, is the same age I am, but he wasn't there. Not all the top runners go, but that's their business."

The following summer, the event was held in Orlando, and Poulson returned to the States to defend his championship–and he won again. "I can say I am actually the national champion, which is fun," Poulson says. "This year, the event will be held in Eugene, Ore., at the University of Oregon--one of the hotbeds of running for America. So, I think I'll go again."

What are Poulson's training secrets? He runs six days a week and rests one. Three days are designated as intense training days, and three days are for taking it more easy. "I eat a light breakfast, no lunch, and I eat a big dinner. A lot of people don't think that's good, but it works for me."

Controlling one's diet is definitely a challenge in Tokyo, a city rich with nightlife and countless restaurants. "Tokyo is the center of everything that happens in Japan," Poulson says. "It is like New York and Los Angeles and Chicago rolled into one."

Poulson says he and his family enjoy the things most urban Americans enjoy in their spare time. There are movies, plays, sports bars and live music clubs to go to, although Poulson pointed out that he doesn't like karaoke. A superior train system, which runs on time to the minute, allows people to move about the city with ease.

It took two years of intense study for Poulson to first learn Japanese. "Today, I can speak it, but I'm not 100 percent fluent by any means," he says, but his varied group of friends gives him lots of practice. "I have non-English-speaking Japanese friends, but I tend to socialize with foreign friends and English-speaking Japanese," Poulson says.

Poulson's daughter attended a small international school for six years, and then went to the largest international school--the American School in Japan, known as ASIJ--for eight years.

Although it is undetermined where their daughter will settle after school, Poulson and his wife are rather firmly rooted in Japan, with no plans to move.

"Japan is a fascinating place to live," Poulson says. "Even after 27 years, I still find it that way."