Manchester, England hosted the 3rd UK based HYROX event of the 2023/24 season in a huge, 2 day event, on 27th and 28th January, 2024. 8000 athletes, plus 7500 spectators, attended across the weekend, filling the beautiful Manchester Central Convention centre which had last played host to the 2023 HYROX World Championships.
Of particular note in the weekend, competing in the Men’s Pro Doubles were Men’s World Champion and World Record Holder, Hunter McIntyre, teaming up with fellow Elite 15 athlete Michael Sandbach (they finished 1st and 4th respectively at the Stockholm Major in December 2023 and have both already qualified for the 2024 World Championships in Nice in June). They would be up against, amongst others, James Kelly (5th in Stockholm) who had teamed up with one of the UK’s top HYROX athletes, Harry Thompson. With Pro Doubles being a relatively new division in HYROX, and so many top athletes racing, there was a lot of excitement around the race, and expectations were high for a new World Record to be set.
Here are the main results of the event…
Women’s Pro
The Women’s Pro was won by Kate Davey in a time of 01:04:09. This impressive time is a new PB for Kate and also moves her up to 17th in the Major Qualification Ranking – not quite enough to automatically qualify for the Vienna Major (in a sign of just how strong the womens field is this season), but she’ll be hoping for a rolldown spot.
Second was Jade Skillen in 01:06:45.
Third place was taken by Zara Piergianni in a time of 01:10:06.
Men’s Pro
The Men’s Pro was won by Graham Halliday in a time of 00:58:42 – unfortunatley not enough to move him further up the Major Qualification Ranking where he currently sits in 17th position. He will, however, be competing at the next “Major” in Vienna, having been offered a rolldown spot.
Second was Jake Williamson in 01:00:33.
Third place was taken by Adam Corlett in a time of 01:00:48.
Women’s Pro Doubles
The Women’s Pro Doubles was won by Sam Bilbie and Katrin Hulme in a time of 00:59:52 which is also a fantastic new 40-49 Age Group World Record.
Men’s Pro Doubles
As expected, the Men’s Pro Doubles was an exciting event, watched live by hundreds of spectators, with the top 3 all beating the previous World Record.
The race was won by Hunter McIntyre and Michael Sandbach in an incredible World Record time of 00:50:18 (beating the previous record by 4 minutes).
Second was James Kelly and Harry Thompson in 00:52:04.
Third was Jake Dearden and Marc Dean in 00:53:50 – a new U29 Age Group World Record.
A mention should also go to Fabien Rascagneres and Mark Lynch, who set a new 40-49 Age Group World Record in a time of 00:57:14.
Men’s Open
The Men’s Open was won by Ash Harrell in a time of 00:57:01.
Second was Charlie Botterill in 00:58:34.
Third place was taken by Daniel Edwards in a time of 01:00:12.
Women’s Open
The Women’s Open was won by Katharine Brownlee in a time of 01:02:10 which is also a 40-44 Age Group World Record!
Second was Georgia Billings in 01:03:32
Third place was taken by Amy Middlemast in 01:05:17
Open Doubles
The Men’s Open Doubles was won by Dan Nota and Brad Graham in a time of 00:54:35
The Women’s Open Doubles was won by Megan Davis and Lucy Davis in in a time of 00:57:59
The Mixed Open Doubles was won by Emma Munsch and Mark Lynch in a time of 00:57:16
HYROX Manchester Course Layout
Here are some photos from the weekend:
The next HYROX events in the UK will be HYROX Glasgow on 2nd and 3rd March 2024, followed by HYROX London on 4th-6th May 2024.
