A bumper weekend of Hyrox with 4 events – 3 in Europe and 1 in the US and over 22,000 finishers across the lot. The countdown to the 2025 World Championships continued with the final events before Chicago in June.
The UK saw its first stadium event which was also the first event held in Wales, with the iconic Principality Stadium in Cardiff hosting.
Meanwhile, over in sunny Europe, Rimini on the north Italian coast was the setting for the 3rd Italian race of the season.
Held at the vast Fiera Rimini convention centre, Hyrox was part of a giant fitness expo event. So if the Hyrox race wasn’t enough there was a host of other fitness exhibitions to get stuck into.
The venue was a short journey from Rimini centre by train, taxi or bike – in theory! A few detours and an inability to easily get from one entrance to another with a bike at the massive convention centre the day before racing proved the benefit of a pre-race recce!
The Hyrox setup was good – a standard oval running circuit and a separate wall ball area for the final station and finish line.
Spectators could access all around and it was great to have close-up support when things got tough. The sleds moved pretty well, which is always good.
It was an early start – the first wave of the event! On the plus side – it was quieter, not too hot, easy to navigate for spectators and a nice clear run course at the start.
It’s good to get the race out of the way early rather than spend the day waiting and doing too much, but you have to be smart and organised with logistics and nutrition.
Not quite the time and PB I was hoping for, but 4th place in age group out of 144 was my best individual finish yet.
Still learning in the sport and trying to get the pacing balance sweet spot between too much and not enough. One day the wall balls will feel ok!
And then ‘Apres Hyrox’ – forget the training for a couple of days and enjoy the food, drink, beaches and weather in Italy.
With the popularity of UK events and lottery of ticket purchases, combining an overseas event with a few days’ break is a great way to do it.
After recharging and preparing for a few days, it’s then time for me to head to Chicago and the Worlds!
