{"id":234880,"date":"2024-06-21T08:02:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T08:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/how-hyrox-took-on-crossfit-to-become-the-next-gen-fitness-race\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:16:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:16:32","slug":"how-hyrox-took-on-crossfit-to-become-the-next-gen-fitness-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/how-hyrox-took-on-crossfit-to-become-the-next-gen-fitness-race\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hyrox took on CrossFit to become the next-gen fitness race"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When you step into a Hyrox race, the air is electric. It\u2019s hard for it not to be, as participants gear up to push sleds, lunge with sandbags, run in loops, and drop on the floor for burpees for the next few hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As the race progresses, the music fades while the claps and cheers get louder. The participants, now glistening in sweat, need all the motivation they can get. When you scan the room, you will see all kinds of people\u2014first-time Hyrox entrants to chiseled athletes, Gen Zs to baby boomers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crowds cheering people in a gigantic arena make the race experience equal parts \u201ccool\u201d and serious business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hyrox\u2019s ingredients might sound familiar to any other fitness fad: a test of stamina and physical endurance lasting hours, a ticking clock, and a clear finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Races aren\u2019t new to sports\u2014think Spartan Race and Tough Mudder, which have been around longer. Hyrox classifies itself as a fitness race different from its arch nemesis, CrossFit, a specific breed of training that\u2019s technical and harder to master with Olympic weightlifting and gymnastic elements.<\/p>\n

But, more importantly, it sets itself apart from the marathons and sporting championships of the world by asking a simple enough question: If going to the gym is a sport, how can we make something more of it?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a
Hyrox doubles race participants on skierg machines. <\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF Sportograf and HYROX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere was a void in the world of sports,\u201d Moritz F\u00fcrste, the co-founder of Hyrox and three-time German Olympian in field hockey, told Fortune<\/em> in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s like this missing piece of the fitness world where people, for whatever reason, go to the gym every day, but they never compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven years on, Hyrox\u2019s reputation precedes it around the world. While its first iteration in 2017 saw a meager 618 participants, the race has grown exponentially since, with the 2023\/24 season closing with over 210,000 participants across 30 cities. That\u2019s despite a little blip called COVID-19 that kept people locked inside their homes for nearly two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hyrox keeps on growing. F\u00fcrste thinks what the race has achieved so far is just the tip of the iceberg as it continues to attract average gym-goers, accomplished athletes, and CrossFit enthusiasts alike, whether in Miami, Milan, or Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Leaping past the seatbacks<\/h2>\n

Hyrox started with a stumble.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was about 10 years ago when F\u00fcrste and his business partner and Hyrox\u2019s CEO Christian Toetzke first met. They were instrumental in Germany\u2019s campaign to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite a persuasive pitch, Hamburg\u2019s residents voted against hosting the games in a 2015 referendum<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went from opening bottles of champagne to literally closing them again and giving them back to the supermarket,\u201d F\u00fcrste said of the day they learned about the referendum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Moritz
Moritz F\u00fcrste pictured in April 2017. <\/figcaption>

Dean Mouhtaropoulos\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But if sport teaches you one thing, it\u2019s to never stop at the first stumble. F\u00fcrste and Toetze, a sporting events veteran, continued discussing ways to collaborate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While looking for ideas, they came across a staggering statistic that most people identified working out at the gym as their \u201csport.\u201d That left the duo with lingering questions\u2014and a seed of an idea for what would later evolve into the Hyrox race we see today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like, \u2018Okay, interesting, but what the hell is your sport?\u2019\u201d F\u00fcrste said. \u201cIf you were to think [of] all the people that are officially a member in a gym, I think we\u2019re talking about the biggest organized sport in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hyrox was born.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rising above<\/h2>\n

Once they had whipped the Hyrox model into shape, the next challenge was convincing people that, unlike other sporting events, it was indeed accessible. It offers various \u201cdivisions\u201d based on age and fitness level to encourage more participants.<\/p>\n

With a couple of hundred racers in the first year and single-digit thousands the following year, selling the idea of mass participation wasn\u2019t easy. Soon after, the pandemic hit, quickly limiting the number of people seeking such events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But F\u00fcrste and others at the Hyrox team were determined to keep the brand on people\u2019s minds\u2014so they organized a race in Hamburg with several rounds of COVID-19 testing daily.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we spent $100,000 on this mid-pandemic, without any kind of global hope that it would ever be better,\u201d F\u00fcrste said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While a little outlandish, those efforts paid off. In 2022, when the world began opening up, people seemed more motivated and willing to try new things, which Hyrox still felt like it was, at the time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its participants and race locations began to grow steadily before outstripping the number of runners at the New York and London Marathons, which was around 50,000.<\/p>\n

\"A
One component of the Hyrox race is running. <\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF Sportograf and HYROX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Leveling up the race experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Helena Sharpe, a 44-year-old recruitment director at JP Morgan, had been on a path to transform her lifestyle for five years. In the process, she dabbled in strength training, high-intensity cardio workouts, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, she set herself a goal to finish London\u2019s Hyrox race in May 2024 to motivate herself to return to fitness following a shoulder surgery. And now, having experienced the race once, Sharpe says she\u2019s sure she\u2019ll do it once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just the atmosphere spurs you on,\u201d Sharpe told Fortune, <\/em>adding that it was like nothing she had done before. \u201cSomething about it\u2026 I didn\u2019t feel too intimidated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a
Helena Sharpe participated in the Hyrox race in London earlier this year. <\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF SPORTOGRAF AND HYROX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Because Hyrox races happen in indoor arenas, the group has a lot more freedom with the atmosphere it builds for its participants\u2014whether that\u2019s with its start tunnels, colorful lights, or motivational speeches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to create a setup that makes actual athletes out of participants,\u201d F\u00fcrste said. He likened the race to iconic marathons like the one in New York, which is equally about the place and the race itself. And like CrossFit, Hyrox also emphasizes the community feeling to boost people\u2019s motivation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s like many things people have heard of or experienced before, Hyrox is also unlike them in critical ways. For instance, F\u00fcrste argues that most people try to run marathons as a bucket list item, while only a handful are repeat runners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he wants Hyrox to be something people feel they can constantly improve in, as with any other sport. He also highlighted that, unlike other sports, Hyrox tries not to gate-keep its events to just the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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