How Hyrox became the latest sporting craze

Hyrox is in a strange place. Although not widely known, UK events have had to introduce ticket lotteries, which is still a good thing.

Part sport, part race, part fitness craze, it has become a social media sensation since being founded eight years ago and those who have fallen in love are, in their own words, “evangelists”.

Since the first event in Hamburg attracted 650 participants, the sport has seen rapid growth. According to the sport’s official website, there were more than 40 global races in 2023, attracting over 90,000 athletes and 50,000 spectators.

Founded in 2017 primarily as an indoor discipline, athletes take part in eight legs, each a one-kilometre run, followed by a fitness exercise.

The exercises competitors are put through are 1km on a standing ski machine, 50m of sled push, 50m sled pull, 80m burpee jumps, 1km indoor rowing, carrying a kettlebell 200m, 100m lunges carrying a sandbag, and finally 100 throws and catches of a medicine ball off a wall.

Every year, competitors compete in world championships in singles and doubles competitions. The 2024 worlds in France featured a new relay event by nationality.

The sport is closely related to CrossFit, but has different, simpler exercises and prioritises endurance over raw strength.

The popularity of Hyrox is primarily put down to two things: accessibility, and visibility. It was created with the intention of spreading the word about how contestants could get their workouts tagged by “Training Club Tuesdays,” encouraging people to wear patches on their gym bags instead of medals.

“It’s challenging and it’s never going to be easy, but it’s accessible at the same time,” three-time world champion Lauren Weeks tells BBC Sport. There is a sense of pride that you could train someone for a few months before completing.

Every athlete is treated like a pro, they say. If you go to an amateur event, they have a hype person, they have a walk-in tunnel. There’s always a DJ playing upbeat music.

Weeks started out as a trainee nurse in 2019 before a friend introduced her to Hyrox, and she now competes full-time. She became women’s world champion in 2020 and also triumphed in 2021 and 2023, the latter 10 months after giving birth, having competed in 2022 while seven months pregnant.

“As a kid, I had dreams of being a professional athlete, but that was just a child’s dream” she says. It just seems bizarre that it actually happened, he said. “

Away from elite competition, Hyrox is thriving at amateur level, particularly in the UK.

Since graduating from Hyrox in 2019, Lucy Gabriel has been subjected to “peer pressure” to attend a Hyrox event.

She has since competed in numerous amateur events, made her professional debut last year, and has two more events in the pipeline for 2025. Additionally, she has received certification in coaching and judging for hyrophobia.

“I wouldn’t call it a competition really, unless you’re in the elite,” she tells BBC Sport. It’s more of a mass-total participation event than a marathon, I think. You are working hard to surpass your personal best, in your opinion.

Weeks and Gabriel’s biggest concern is whether Hyrox is expanding too quickly for the better and risks losing some of its accessibility.

Weeks notes that “events were originally only selling out in the UK.” “Now they’re selling out everywhere, and in the UK it is so popular that they have to have a lottery to get a ticket.

Because there are so few chances of entering those UK races, I believe people in the UK must be willing to travel, even over to Germany or Italy.

Some people are getting multiple tickets into a race, while others are missing out on every single race, according to the current system. “