American litigators have a formidable reputation. The received wisdom says that they’re tough as old boots, merciless with their time and deadly. But how much tougher than the average US litigator would a man who runs ultra-marathons prove to be? Bo Phillips, who works in Reed Smith’s offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, would provide the answer.

Phillips is a tall and lean man of 55 who has an enviable pedigree in business litigation, having acted in a string of class action cases. After studying law at Duke University in North Carolina, he moved to California, where a lifelong enjoyment of physicality was initially expressed through basketball. “I played in the Los Angeles lawyers’ league until my early 30s,” he recalls. “The games were played twice a week, and were very competitive. I gave up when the younger players started getting too fast — and when I began to pick up injuries.”

Phillips toyed with golf, but says that he only ever acquired a “mediocre” standard. His search for a more physical outlet soon led him to running. Whether he imagined, the day he took up the sport in the mid eighties, that he would spend the next 20 years completing 200 mile relay races is unlikely. But for this down-to-earth, pleasingly atypical American litigator, that is the reality.

“I’ve taken part in the 200-mile Hood to Coast relay, in Oregon, almost since I took up running,” says Phillips. “It’s the largest event of its kind in the world.” Not for nothing does the Hood to Coast bill itself as “the Mother of all Relays”: its 12,000 participants, in teams of 12, must complete an arduous course from the slopes of Mount Hood (the tallest peak in Oregon), through the Portland metropolitan area and across the Oregon coast range before finishing in the city of Seaside on the Oregon coast.

The course consists of 36 legs, of which each team member must run at least three in rotation. It has to be done and dusted within 31 hours, making for an average pace of 9 minutes, 30 seconds a mile. Not only has Phillips ably acquitted himself on the spectacular course, he is the captain of his team which, in 2007, raised money for the American Cancer Society and underprivileged rural schools in Jewell, Oregon.

Serious distance running is Phillips’ forte. He generally runs at least two marathons a year, though his tally numbered six in 2006. Most weekends, he runs among the trails of San Francisco Bay with a group of runners known as the Dirt Dogs. “There are wonderful views up on the trails over San Francisco Bay. The air is pure and you can run through ancient redwood forests. It’s a marvellous counter-balance to what goes on in the rest of my life. It’s such a stark contrast to the law and a great relaxation tool.”

But if running can serve as stress relief, it’s not something that Phillips would only do as a consequence of being a lawyer. “I’m not someone who sits around or who needs a lot of sleep,” he says. “I’d go running even if I worked a 20-hour week in a low stress job.”

Phillips has yet to complete the London marathon, but has his sights on it, possibly this year. His most memorable marathon to date was New York City in 2002, which coincided with his 50th birthday. “I wore a T-shirt saying “Happy Birthday Bo — the Big 50.” It was like running for a four-hour receiving line. People were screaming my name and singing “Happy Birthday” for the whole race, women were coming up and kissing me, the crowd was giving me high fives all the way round — it was an extraordinary experience. I wanted it to go on after I’d finished and felt like running for a few more miles. That’s the only time I’ve ever felt like that after a marathon.”

American litigators, hard of heart? Not this one.

See www.hoodtocoast.com for more on Oregon’s spectacular relay-marathon

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