Oh Meu Deus 500KM

On August 9, 2013, the 'Oh Meu Deus' (Oh My God in Portuguese) 500km is set to begin its east-to-west crossing of Portugal via the country's highest point. The race itself starts at midnight, and riders take in over 12000m of climbing on their route to the coast via the Serra da Estrela mountain range, the country's highest.

With a time limit of 66hrs it strikes us as hard, but not insurmountable – a proper challenge. Riders will be required to guide themselves along the route via GPS and be self sufficient. Clearly signposting and marshalling 500km of trail would be a near impossible task. With Portugal's excellent right to roam and great climate, this has the potential to be a great event.

British endurance specialist Paul Errington will be racing, if you want to join him, there are more details at www.horizontes.com.pt (change the language to English in the top right corner).