If the word “Hyrox” sounds familiar, it’s probably because the obviously fit person in your office or at your child’s sports day was talking about it. Featuring 8k of running split up by eight mini-workouts, it’s the hottest new must-do event for people who love the gym and the ’Gram. Launched in 2017, it’s now sponsored by Red Bull, with the sculpted superhumans who win its world championships taking home a combined prize pot of $150,000 (£118,000). Less technical than CrossFit and not as messy as Tough Mudder, it might also be harder than both: it takes most participants just over an hour and a half to finish, and very few of those minutes are what you’d call pleasant.
I know this, because I got a spot in the recent Glasgow event, trained for three weeks, then limped over the line in a sort-of-respectable 1hr 47min 35sec (the men’s pro winner, Jake Dearden, did it with slightly heavier weights, in just under an hour). Slumped in an Uber afterwards, I couldn’t imagine doing anything so horrible again – but two days later, surprisingly un-sore, I was already thinking about how to improve my time. Hyrox, you see, has a little bit of something for everyone: there’s no upper time limit on finishing, and age group categories let you choose your own level of competitiveness. You can also do it as a pair, or a relay team, to make the amount of work involved a bit less intimidating. I, obviously, am already consulting every competitor I can find to get myself under the 90-minute mark; here’s what might help us all out.
