See Hugh's hatrick run on Google Maps

He has the hatrick - the third marathon in 4 hours 48 minutes. Stout fellow.

Cause for celebration? I think so, sipping a Sagres whilst blithely tapping away, and Hugh receives a massage from Samia - part of the evening ritual after the dreaded ice bath. We ripped up the proposed Non Drinking Pact for this jaunt but don't feel bad about it. It's not like we said we wouldn't attack someone in the mid 1930s, then did, thus plunging the world into conflict. No, and besides, Hugh is happy his support team drinks whilst he doesn't. So, Wales holds firm whilst Spain and England share a bottle of dark Portuguese red and we all chat nonsense and a few tactics over a good meal. Perhaps that's why the UN hasn't called.

Adverse weather conditions today, as Network Rail is wont to say as an excuse for virtually any delay; but it didn't stop our Hugh. Opting for a main road route strategy, we didn't get lost as he and I trotted out 17 miles or so in the morning. Samia was always there in support, stopping off in the trickier spots to make sure we didn't rely on our natural inability to navigate. I then stopped gallavanting and hopped in the car to monitor him on the remaining miles home.

There is something absurd and satisfying about jogging along an endless road in the pelting rain - a sort of truancy from life; deliberate dogged journeying through rural Portugal by the most basic of means. Intermittent blasts of spray from trucks that barely made room as they past us provided a frequent reminder to keep as far into the curb as possible. Little figures in fluorescent jackets act as a red rag to a bull to truck drivers.

No major hills today and Hugh arrived in Peniche in good time, having completed the first hotel to hotel run. His niggling injuries were quiet and he found it difficult not to push harder; the long road ahead though ensures he remains prudent. Samia provides sound technical advice whilst I threaten unpleasant route changes if he doesn't listen. All in all, a confidence boosting day in awful conditions.