Here we are then. At the end of day one and all on track. Hugh finished his first marathon in a very respectable 4 hrs 45 minutes and I did my half, before donning my Ops Manager hat and 'helping' support him.

The first day was a great success. Hugh and I started off in Poets Park, Oreisa, west Lisbon in torrential rain. We then ran along the coastal path, with the Atlantic rollers breaking on the shore. Hugh has a gps, Garmin route plan to follow and a support vehicle but the plan is essentially simple - keep the ocean to your left and you won't go far wrong. I left him at the half marathon point, on the road past Cascia to continue with the support team. For the first day this included a camera crew, as well as Samia our sports therapist who is invaluable, not only for keeping Hugh on the road but also for her language skills - particularly important in Portugal. She is a professional snowboarder so understands about the mental altitude required for this challenge and treats a lot of runners so has introduced us both to some new exercises.

The weather improved dramatically in the afternoon and we are now in Sintra, up the west coast of Portugal (north of Lisbon) and are looking for a hotel for the night. Ours was flooded by rain unfortunately. It is a beautiful town so we are hopeful of finding a suitable hotel and restaurant - we are in need of both!

Samia and I arrived at 2am this morning after our original support vehicle caught fire on Monday - it cannot be repaired quickly so we had to hire another vehicle and drove straight through last night in time for a few hours' sleep before preparing for the first day. We're all glad to be here and cracking on with the event - Hugh is in great spirits and looking good.

More tomorrow depending on the availability of internet cafes - doing this whilst watching Portugal against China with enthusiastically played table football in the background and staring at the laptop screen through a thick fug of smoke. I rather like Portugal. Matt Pain - Expedition Manager