CrossFit for runners? Sounds like fun … I think?

Today I stepped into something new — a little outside my comfort zone, and definitely into uncharted territory when it comes to events. I knew I could get through it, but I had no idea how fast. I was part of a team, and I didn’t want to be the handbrake. The running part would be fine, but I wasn’t sure about the “weights”

I’m talking about HYROX – a competition held in a large indoor arena, consisting of a 1km run followed by one workout, repeated eight times. Each workout is different:

  • SkiErg (1000m)
  • Sled Push (50m) – 152kg sled
  • Sled Pull (50m) – 103kg sled
  • Burpee Broad Jumps (80m)
  • Rowing (1000m)
  • Farmer’s Carry (200m) – 2 × 24kg kettlebells
  • Sandbag Lunges (100m) – 20kg sandbag
  • Wall Balls (100 reps) – 6kg ball

Looking at this workout list, I imagine most runners would immediately put it in the “too hard” basket, but it’s definitely achievable for most people with a bit of extra training — especially if you’ve got some running fitness.

Being able to run makes a much bigger difference to your overall result than being able to lift heavy weights.

The Backstory

I became interested in HYROX last year after talking to several physio clients who had done it. It sounded hard but fun, and I’d been doing a few CrossFit classes at the time, so I had a reasonable idea of what I was getting into.

My 17-year-old son Ollie has become a keen CrossFit athlete, so I was pretty sure he’d be up for it. He’s the black sheep in the family when it comes to cardio — I give him a lot of grief about not being fit, and he gives it back (double) about me being old and weak. So this was it — a head-to-head Green family “gym-run” competition. The prize? Bragging rights at the dinner table for the next 12 months.

At 7pm one evening in April, I jumped on the HYROX website to enter — and was dismayed to find myself 2,700th in the queue. Luckily, it moved quickly and a couple of hours later I was in. The individual competition had sold out, so instead of competing against Ollie, I was now competing with him — in the Men’s Doubles Team.

We talked a bit about training. Ollie needed to run more; I needed to lift some weights. But life is busy. He’s in Year 12, juggling HSC study and coaching CrossFit. I’m working in the physio clinic, writing training plans for Streek, and to be honest — I much prefer running to gym work.

We only managed two gym training sessions where we did some rowing, SkiErg, squatting, lunging, and burpeeing. They were fun sessions — there just wasn’t enough of them for me to get any meaningful benefit. I was a bit nervous about letting the team down, so in the last couple of weeks I threw in a few extra sessions of walking lunges (with two 10kg kettlebells) and goblet squats with a 20kg kettlebell.

Race Day

Pro tip: Get to the venue well in advance. We thought arriving at 7:05am for our 8:00am start would be fine, but long queues and a slow registration process meant we only just made it to the start gate at 7:57am.

Speaking of queues — Ollie turned to me while we were waiting and said, “I haven’t seen so many fit people in one place before.” He’s been to the start line of dozens of ultra trail races, but I think his CrossFit-biased definition of fitness means big and strong. I must admit, I felt a bit out of place — old and short!

In hindsight, I probably seeded us with the top guns by guesstimating our finish time at 60 minutes, so I think we were in the queue with the teams intending to finish at the front of the field.

The Start Line

We entered the start area through some dramatic blackout curtains into a small warm-up room — music blaring, TV screens showing past HYROX events and lots of shirtless, hyped-up big units. It was more exciting than intimidating. HYROX certainly knows how to put on a show.

A 10-second countdown and we were off, into the first 1km run.

Workout 1 – SkiErg (1000m)

The plan was to run at a steady pace and hit the workouts hard. Since I’d find the running easier, I would start each workout, Ollie would take the middle portion, and I’d finish. That way, he’d get a bit of recovery before and after each run.

The SkiErg went to plan. I started, he powered through the middle, and I finished it off.

Workout 2 – Sled Push (50m)

About 10 seconds into the second run, Ollie said, “Hang on — I think I’m broken.” He looked like a beetroot. His knees (still recovering from UTA22 six weeks earlier) were sore. We walked 10 metres, jogged for a bit, then managed to break back into a run. 400m later, he stopped and vomited over the barrier — which pretty much sorted him out. We got back into a 4-min/km pace and hit the sled push.

I’d never pushed a sled before and wasn’t sure I’d be able to move it. But with Ollie’s knee and stomach issues, I took the first crack. Thankfully, I could move it. I was slower than the shirtless behemoths surrounding us, but at least it was moving. We alternated the four 12.5m sled push sections and headed out for run #3.

Workout 3 – Sled Pull (50m)

This run was less dramatic. We started easy, then picked up the pace, weaving past people from later start waves. It was busy, and exciting, but not overcrowded.

The sled pull was new to me too. I stood in the alloted square, copied the guy next to me, and slowly dragged the sled 12.5m towards me. Ollie then jumped in and pulled his turn like the sled was on wheels. I struggled through my next go, and Ollie smashed the last leg.

Workout 4 – Burpee Broad Jumps (80m)

Run 4 went well — no vomiting and lots of overtaking. You have to stay within a couple of metres of your teammate, which took concentration in the crowds.

Burpee broad jumps were humbling. You burpee, jump forward, and repeat — four stretches of 20m. I could only manage 1–1.5m jumps, so I needed 18 burpees per length. Ollie was doing 3–3.5m jumps, smashing the 20m span in only seven or eight.

Workout 5 – Rowing (1000m)

Run 5 was solid. I started the row, Ollie blazed through the middle, and I finished it off. Fitness and endurance were starting to show — we overtook a few of the big units who had looked unstoppable earlier.

Workout 6 – Farmer’s Carry (200m)

Run 6 gave us time to chat tactics for the next workout. The farmer’s carry. I’d done quite a bit of this in CrossFit classes, and a little bit of recent home training up and down the driveway as well. With 24kg’s in each hand I manage to shuffle along at a steady pace. Ollie was pretty much running with them so I had to jog fast behind him to keep up.

Workout 7 – Sandbag Lunges (100m)

Run 7 — we were still feeling good. I was even wishing there were 10–12 runs instead of 8! More time to catch the big units.

Sandbag lunges were hard. I’d thought I had prepared for this, but I really struggled. The rules are strict: back knee to the ground and keep your torso upright. Judges were watching, and breaking form would mean a time penalty initially, then a disqualification. I had to repeat a few reps just to get it right.

This was a wake-up call for me. Runners are notoriously weak through hips and glutes in deeper ranges — and I proved that theory right. I’m now on a mission to work on squats and lunges with heavier weights — and I plan to add some “heavy” workout sessions to Streek. I’m interested to see what effect they will have in my upcoming races…

Ollie breezed through his lunges, and we hit the final run.

Workout 8 – Wall Balls (100 reps)

Wall balls: throw a 6kg ball to a 10-foot target, catch it in a deep squat, and repeat x100. I did 25, Ollie got us to 65, I did another 15, and Ollie finished them off.

A final 15-metre “sprint” and we crossed the line in 1:01:24.

Final Thoughts

Not a bad effort for a couple of first-timers — and it was so much fun.

Instead of one of us having bragging rights, we got to share the experience. Working as a team — cooperating, strategising, and supporting each other — made it so much more enjoyable and satisfying.

We’re definitely going back for more. Getting under 60 mins should be very doable if we both work on our weaknesses. And now that we’ve experienced it as a team, that’s how we want to keep doing it…

…at least until I really do get too old and slow.

** 2 Days Post Race Update ** – As we crossed the line both my watch, and the results screen said 1hr 1 min. A couple of minutes later our official result said 1hr 8 mins. I lodged an enquiry through the website, and they have informed me that we missed a lap on run number 8 and were penalised 7 minutes. The in/out section of the last run is different than the other 7, it wasn’t sign posted and I obviously hadn’t watched the Instruction video closely enough. So disappointing! Our proper time would have been something like 1hr 5 mins – so it looks like a lot more work is require to break the 60 min barrier.