How to pace a Hyrox race: run, stations, and Roxzone

Pace Hyrox as One Continuous Effort

Eight 1 km runs and eight stations share a single clock, and the Roxzone between them stays on it. Hold each kilometer near a pace you can repeat, start the first one around a 6 out of 10, and keep every station controlled enough that the next run still has a stride. Loads and rules below are the current Singles standards.

Where the time goes

Every Hyrox has the same shape. You run 1 km, complete a station, and repeat that pair eight times: 1,000 m SkiErg, 50 m sled push, 50 m sled pull, 80 m burpee broad jumps, 1,000 m row, 200 m farmers carry, 100 m sandbag lunges, and 100 wall balls. You count your own run laps, and an extra lap is just extra time.

For most solo athletes, running is about half the finish time. The stations take most of the rest. The Roxzone is smaller, but it is timed. A slightly slower station is a good trade when it keeps the next kilometer runnable. A station you stretch out until you lose a minute gives that minute straight back.

Set a kilometer you can repeat

Each run is a split you want eight times. A 5 km or 10 km pace feels available on kilometer 1, while you are fresh and the hall is loud. It fits poorly once a sled, a set of burpees, or a sandbag has already had your legs.

If you have a recent half-marathon pace, use it as a ceiling. Your fastest kilometer of the event should sit at that pace or a little slower. Without a half marathon, find the ceiling in training: run 1 km at an effort where you can still say a short sentence. That fresh pace is the top of the range. After a few stations, the same effort will be slower.

Start the first kilometer around a 6 out of 10. If it feels easy enough to push well under your target, stay on the target. You want that margin after the sled pull, the burpees, and the lunges. Later kilometers feel harder at the same speed, because heart rate drifts and the stations keep it elevated. Keep the pace anyway. Heart rate is a useful review after the race. On the day, steer by pace and by how the kilometer feels.

Kilometers 1 and 2 sit on the target, a few seconds slower if the first one feels too lively. Kilometers 3 to 6 stay on the target. Kilometers 7 and 8 may slip 10 to 20 seconds per kilometer, with a shorter stride and quicker steps. A much larger fade usually means the early runs or the leg stations were too hot.

Worked example (illustrative numbers): an athlete with a 5:00/km half-marathon pace targets about 5:20/km for kilometers 1 to 6, then lets kilometers 7 and 8 slip to roughly 5:30 to 5:40. That is about 43 minutes of running in total.

The Roxzone is race time

The Roxzone is the path from the running track into each station and back out. Open athletes often spend roughly 6 to 10 minutes there across the race. The distance changes with the venue, so read the athlete map before you start.

Move with purpose. A relaxed jog, or a brisk walk when you need your breathing to settle, can save a few seconds each time. Five seconds saved eight times is 40 seconds, worth taking when you still arrive ready to work. A sprint followed by standing over the sled gives those seconds back.

Enter and leave through the correct arches. Going in through the OUT arch or out through the IN arch is a 2-minute penalty each time.

Pace each station so the next run survives

The station goal is the kilometer after it. A fast split that sends you out in pieces shows up on the next run. Sled weights include the sled. Pro women use the same implement weights as Open men, except the wall-ball target, which follows the women's height.

Hold the SkiErg, the sleds, and the burpees just inside what you could do fresh. That leaves the row, carry, lunges, and wall balls at the pace you practiced.

• SkiErg, 1,000 m. Use long, smooth strokes you could continue past 1,000 m. Treat your fresh gym time as a mark to race slower than, with seven stations still ahead. Settle over the first 200 m, hold one pace, and start the next run relaxed.

• Sled push, 50 m. Four lengths of 12.5 m, at 102 kg (225 lb) for Open women, 152 kg (335 lb) for Open men and Pro women, and 202 kg (445 lb) for Pro men. Stay low, take short steps, and keep the sled moving. Wear shoes with real grip.

• Sled pull, 50 m. Four lengths, at 78 kg (172 lb) for Open women, 103 kg (227 lb) for Open men and Pro women, and 153 kg (337 lb) for Pro men. Stay in the box and keep a hand-over-hand rhythm. The legs are already loaded from the push, so this is a common place to lose run 4. Finish under control and give that kilometer a steady first 200 m.

• Burpee broad jumps, 80 m. Pick a jump length you can repeat for the whole distance. Your chest must touch the ground, both feet leave and land together, and you travel forward on each jump. You may step or jump back, and you may use your knees to step up. Finish smooth enough that run 5 still has a stride.

• Row, 1,000 m. Leave the damper near 6, in the 5 to 7 range. Hold a pace you could continue past 1,000 m, around 26 to 30 strokes per minute, with even pressure. A small lift in the last 250 m is fine if your breathing is still controlled. Many Open athletes finish between about 4:00 and 5:00. Regular rowers will be faster, and a first-timer can be slower and still well paced if the split stays even. Three runs and three stations are still ahead.

• Farmers carry, 200 m. Two kettlebells, arms straight at your sides: 2 x 16 kg (2 x 35 lb) for Open women, 2 x 24 kg (2 x 53 lb) for Open men and Pro women, and 2 x 32 kg (2 x 71 lb) for Pro men. Lap counts change by venue. Stand tall and take short, quick steps. You may set the bells down to rest, but carry both whenever you move. A fast walk beats a long pause. Once you fold over and shuffle, the lunges get harder.

• Sandbag lunges, 100 m. The bag stays on you: 10 kg (22 lb) for Open women, 20 kg (44 lb) for Open men and Pro women, and 30 kg (66 lb) for Pro men. The trailing knee touches the ground, you stand tall to finish each rep, and you alternate legs. When you need a breath, stop with both feet together. Extra steps between lunges are an infringement, so use a slightly shorter lunge you can repeat. This station sits right before the last run, so leave enough that kilometer 8 is still a run.

• Wall balls, 100 reps. Open women throw a 4 kg (9 lb) ball to a 2.7 m target. Open men throw 6 kg (13 lb) to 3 m. Pro women throw 6 kg (13 lb) to 2.7 m, and Pro men throw 9 kg (20 lb) to 3 m. Break the hundred on purpose. Sets of 25, 20, or 10 all work when the rest stays at about 3 to 5 seconds and every set is a number you can hit again. The early sets should feel repeatable. The last set can be the hardest work of the station.

Practice the tired kilometer

Compromised running is the kilometer that starts on whatever the station just cost you. It is slower and less tidy than a fresh run at the same effort, and it makes up most of the running in the race. Rehearse it like this:

• Run 1,000 m at your planned Hyrox pace.
• Walk 45 to 60 seconds, about the length of a purposeful Roxzone.
• Do 20 wall balls at your race load, at a repeatable effort.
• Go straight into the next 1,000 m run with no recovery jog.

Do five rounds. The standard is holding the same 1,000 m split every round with the wall balls in your legs. Wall balls are a mild load for the legs. On another day, swap them for 20 burpee broad jumps or a short sled push at race load, then run 400 m at race pace. That is closer to the stride change in the middle of the race.

If you can already run 5 km comfortably, one or two compromised-running sessions a week, with easy running around them, is enough to build this. A shorter four-round version is in What Is Compromised Running? A Simple Hyrox Workout for First-Timers.