Watching people run past as I waited for my start time, I couldn’t help notice all the different types of people that were at this event. It got me thinking about all the different competitions I’ve done over the years; CrossFit, Triathlons, Running events, Obstacle courses, GORUCK events, Bike races & now HYROX. All of them can be classed as fitness racing.
You’re testing your fitness, racing against other people, in whatever discipline you’ve signed up for. So, what do people get out of fitness racing? Are they all “racing”? What are they all here for?
”It’s crazy that people pay all this money to come and do these kinds of things” – that was something my wife, Michelle, said to me over this weekend. And she’s right, we traveled to Washington DC, paid for flights, accommodation, registration for the event plus all the extras in food over the weekend.
Standing on the sidelines, I could see a few different types of people “racing” and while I can’t say exactly why they were there as everyone will have their own reasons, I could classify some distinct groups…
The actual racers – these people were there to race hard and push for a top spot. Generally these racers will have a strategy, know roughly what time they are looking for and have probably done this race before. Even though this was our first HYROX, Michelle and I were in this category. We had trained for this specifically and wanted to push hard. When I competed in CrossFit, I was in the same group then too. At that time, my life was dedicated to getting better at CrossFit and not much else.
The second group is a hard one to give a name. These people have a pretty solid goal and in an event like HYROX, they will have an idea what time they want to get. Similar to a marathon, these people know what pace they want to run and will push themselves to their limits but they also know that they aren’t going to be competing for a top spot. They know they aren’t good enough to win but they will be looking to get themselves a personal best time. In all my endurance races, I’ve been in this category. I’m never going to be competitive at the top level in these races (I don’t want to train that way in order to be). My goal is to be way above average and sit in the category under the Elite.
The final group are the ones who are there purely to complete the event. Of course, they will try to push themselves hard but they will accept walking if they need to. Their training may have been mixed in terms of consistency and the goal is to get to the finish line. If they’ve done the race before then they may be looking to go a bit faster than that. There are a lot of people who fit into this category for many different reasons, goals, life circumstances.
These are obviously pretty general categories but in my experience, I’ve seen these groups of people in all of the different fitness races that I’ve done over the years. Naturally, everyone is going to get something different out of fitness racing. It’s going to be very specific to each individual.
When I was warming up this weekend. I saw a spectator tell one of the racers how many laps he had left. If you don’t know what HYROX is, you can find the race format HERE – but it’s basically 8x1km runs with a workout in between each run. The run was 2.75 laps around the venue and many people were getting penalties for missing laps. It can get confusing when you’re 40+ minutes into the race, that’s for sure. Anyway, this spectator was helping his buddy count the laps from the side. He told me that 10 years ago his friend, who was racing, suffered a brain aneurysm and wanted to do this race for his 10 year anniversary. He traveled all the way from Australia and the spectator came from Florida to support him. Crazy story and I can’t imagine how many stories like this were amongst the 1500+ racers that weekend.
With so many different reasons for being there, what do all these people actually get out of fitness racing? Again, I think we can generalize this using the categories above:
The racers – In my experience, when you’re there to race, unless you win or get on the podium, you’re often disappointed. I had no idea of the level of any of the other racers this weekend. I hoped we could get on the podium and quietly hoped we could win. We came 4th in our age group and 6th overall, naturally this leaves someone like me disappointed. Could we have trained harder was my first thought. We didn’t quite have the speed we needed in the runs. We did leave everything out there and I don’t think we had any better on the day. It was fun to compete with my wife but I can’t shake a level of disappointment.
The second group – for me, being in this group for my endurance events (Ironman’s, marathons etc) it’s a lot easier to finish the race satisfied, happy and even enjoy the experience. Unlike competing for a top spot, you’re in total control of the outcome for the most part. It doesn’t matter how good everyone else is. If you’re there to hit a target time, push yourself to the max and execute all of your race strategy – then you have control over that. It’s not usually a major disappointment if you mess some things up either. I’ve had the most sense of accomplishment when I’ve been in this category.
Those there to complete – I don’t have any experience being in this category. My life has been dedicated to fitness, training and learning about strategy and tactics of any race that I’ve ever done. I have worked and coached many people who have goals to complete races. I’ve seen that this can bring the most joy because people often don’t know or have the confidence in themselves to believe that they can complete the race. I’m sure the guy who was there after his brain aneurysm was there to complete the event, prove to himself that he has overcome his adversity and set himself a new challenge after.
It doesn’t matter where you sit in any of these categories, you may even have different reasons for racing. I’ve shared a lot of content about committing to an event, using that event as a goal and a motivator to train harder and more consistent.
In October, the HYROX event is coming to Toronto and I’m so pumped that many of the members at Defy have signed up in various categories. There are many things that can bring a sense of accomplishment in life; but finishing something physical that pushes you to the brink is hard to beat.
Not everyone is there to ‘race’ – but everyone has their own reasons and will get their own reward at the end. If you’ve never put yourself out there for something like this, you’re missing out.