Running in Lagos is like running in an oven. Which happens to be in a sauna. Which is on the surface of the sun.

So let’s just say that I’ll be keeping this write-up short as it feels physically impossible in any case to do anything but a short run in Lagos. Fu#k. Me. It. Was. Hot.

I got my first hint of what it was like when we landed around 10pm a couple of days earlier and got hit by an utter wall of heat as we got off the plane. I was expecting warmth, but this was something else.

Strangely, despite averaging less than 5 hours a night of sleep that week to fit in all the meetings, flights and the rest of the crazy schedule, I still had just enough energy (and stubbornness) in the tank to get up at 6am on my last day and go for a (short) run.

As I got up – BEFORE sun rise – my phone said it was already 30°C with a “real feel” of 41°C because of the humidity. FORTY ONE!

So. Yes. Great place to lose weight if you don’t lose your life on a run.

The run itself, well, what to say. I did a similar check on Strava to Kenya but (unsurprisingly) didn’t find a huge amount near the hotel. I, however, saw a few tracks leading out to Banana Island nearby, so that’s where I headed. I could, theoretically, have made it into a 10km or so loop but, dying not being worth, it I cut it short to a small 5km loop.

And that, honestly, is plenty. And I really don’t have much to say about such a small jog! Though I didn’t see any bananas. And I guess it’s an island, but I didn’t see the sea either. And, even in only 5km, I still had to stop/start because it was so hot.

Lagos certainly has lots of nice people. It also has nice police escorts to whizz you through their incredibly dense traffic (including driving up the wrong side of the motorway…) when you’re – somehow – being treated like a VIP as I was. However, in terms of running tour … I think I’m going to struggle to sing many praises. Next!

Heat

Scenery

Speed