Are HYROX Venues Truly Consistent?

A big attraction, for many, in competing in HYROX is that the race is the same each time.  It allows athletes to compare their time against previous races and understand if they’re making progress or not.  What’s more, they can compare their time with athletes from all over the world.  This is a characteristic that makes it unique when compared to most other functional fitness events (such as Crossfit or Spartan, for example).

That all said, questions often come up about whether venues are truly consistent. They can never be EXACTLY the same as they are different shapes and sizes, need to cater for a different number of athletes, and so on.  So how consistent really are they?

With the 2022/23 season now ended, I looked at the data to see if we could find any clues as to whether some HYROX venues faster than others, and to what extent that is impacting finishing times. Let’s find out…

The Method

The Men’s division is almost always the division with the most athletes competing.  If we assume that the overall average standard of those athletes is broadly the same at each venue, then the median finishing time on the day, can be compared against the median finishing time from another venue.

I’ve looked at the median time, by station, for all races in the 2022/23 season (excluding the World Championships where the standard of athletes being higher would have skewed the data, and Miami, which took place on the beach).  Here’s the main talking points…

Ski Erg and Row

There isn’t a huge difference in time / performance across the venues on both the SkiErg and rowing machine.  You’d likely expect this to be the case; performance on these machines doesn’t vary a huge amount, and there’s no reason why the machines should perform any differently from venue to venue.

In HYROX, I believe certain regions have their own sets of equipment (Spain, rest of Europe, USA, and Hong Kong).  The breakdown on the ergs, if split like that, was as follows:

Ski

Spain – 4:25

Rest of Europe – 4:26

USA – 4:30

Hong Kong – 4:37

The fastest median time on the SkiErg was 4:19 in Barcelona and the slowest was 4:35 in Rotterdam, Dallas and Stuttgart.

Row

Spain – 4:49

Rest of Europe – 4:47

USA – 4:57

Hong Kong – 4:57

The fastest median time on the Row was 4:40 in Leipzig and the slowest was 5:03 in Dallas.

My assumption is that the differences here are due to a slightly different standard of athletes at those venues / regions (as opposed to machine differences). I’ve started with this as it highlights that there can be time differences due to the athletes, as opposed to it being layout / equipment related.

Sled Push

This is where it gets interesting! It’s long been known in HYROX that sleds can feel faster, or slower, on any given day.  This is caused by several factors, including how much the equipment has been used, and the temperature / humidity in the room.

First Time Equipment Use

If we look at the splits when it’s the first time (I’m assuming) the equipment has been used that season, the times are interesting:

First Time Use – 2:38m

Already Used – 3:05m

So, the first time a carpet gets used, the median sled push time in the Men’s division is roughly 27 seconds quicker.

Times by Region

Here’s the median sled push time broken down by groups with their own equipment…

Hong Kong – 2:30

Rest of Europe – 2:54

Spain – 2: 57

USA – 3:42

The relatively quick Hong Kong time I suspect is a result of only being 2 events in Hong Kong in the season which means the equipment (sled and carpet) hasn’t been used a great deal and so remains reasonably quick.  I don’t think it’s due to an overall higher standard of athlete as we don’t get that indication in overall finishing times or on the other stations.

Are American Sleds Slower in HYROX?

Based on the above times, it would appear as if the sled push in America is slower than other regions.  It’s hard to be certain whether that’s down to a difference in the athletes or the equipment.  However, we can look at the 3 Elite races that took place this season (using the Pro weights) for an indication…

Elite Men (Average Sled Push Time)

Maastricht (European Championships) – 02:27m

Chicago (North American Championships) – 03:22m

Manchester (World Championships) – 02:59m

Elite Women (Average Sled Push Time)

Maastricht (European Championships) – 02:28m

Chicago (North American Championships) – 03:14m

Manchester (World Championships) – 03:07m

So, in the Elite races, where we saw many of the same athletes competing, it does appear as if the American sleds were slower.  There was a reasonably significant difference compared to Maastricht, but less so when compared to the sleds at the World Championships in Manchester.

I think these two sets of data (the Elite races plus the Median Men’s Open time across all venues) suggest that the sleds in America do appear to be slower than elsewhere.  By how much will differ from venue to venue, but on average it looks like it’s around 45secs (ish) slower than Europe in the Men’s Open.

Times by Venue

It’s worth highlighting that it’s not just differences between region that we see, but also within regions (using the same equipment) from venue to venue…

As an example, in Europe (excluding Spain), the fastest Median sled push time (excluding first time use) was Leipzig with a time of 2.33m, and the slowest was London (Excel) with a time of 3.19m.

Sled Pull

The amount a carpet gets used doesn’t seem to impact times on the HYROX sled pull…

First Time Use – 5:01

Already Used – 4:50

By region though, there are some reasonably significant differences…

Spain – 4:23

Rest of Europe – 4:40

Hong Kong – 5:08

USA – 5:48

Again, the American sleds seem to be slowest.  If we look at the Elite races this year…

Elite Men (Average Sled Pull Time)

Maastricht (European Championships) – 03:25m

Chicago (North American Championships) – 04:17m

Manchester (World Championships) – 04:06m

Elite Women (Average Sled Pull Time)

Maastricht (European Championships) – 03:32m

Chicago (North American Championships) – 04:23m

Manchester (World Championships) – 04:25m

Again, the American sleds do appear to be much slower than were seen in Maastricht.  And again the difference wasn’t quite so clear when compared against Manchester.

Times by Venue

As with the sled push, it should be highlighted that it’s not just differences between region that we see, but also within regions (using the same equipment) from venue to venue…

For example, in Europe (excluding Spain), the fastest Median sled pull time (excluding first time use) was Essen with a time of 4.13m, and the slowest was Hamburg with a time of 5.09m.

Wall Balls and Burpee Broad Jumps (and Movement Standards)

If we look at the wall ball times by region I don’t think anything stands out in particular.  However, there can be significant differences between venues…

For example, the fastest men’s open median time we saw on the Wall Balls was in Bilbao where it was 05:30m.  That was 01.22m quicker than the median time in Madrid (the slowest median time in Europe).

That feels like a significant difference, especially considering both venues are in the same country.  Of course, it may have just been general standard of athletes on the day, but it may also highlight another factor that possibly causes differences between venues: how strict the judging is…

Wall balls and burpee broad jumps are the main stations in HYROX where judging can come into play.  If there are particularly strict judges at one venue compared to another (who, for example, determine an athlete isn’t squatting low enough, or hitting the centre of the target perfectly enough) it can have an impact on finishing times.

The fastest men’s open median time we saw on the BBJ in the season was in Bilbao where it was 04:14.  That was 02.06m quicker than the median time in Manchester!

Of course, we don’t know how likely it is that judging strictness caused these differences but it may be a factor and deserves a mention in an article on venue differences in HYROX.

I should also point out that burpee time could be affected by the layout.  For example, in Frankfurt it was one long straight line of 80m.  In many other venues it’s normally a 40m straight and then you need to turn and go back (with the turn costing time). That said, it doesn’t look like the BBJ time in Frankfurt was especially quick (5:05m median time).

Running

For a fair comparison between venues of running time, you need to add run time and Roxzone time together.  This is because the length of the running track is adjusted to account for bigger or smaller roxzones.  However, it’s not possible to search for the median Run time + Roxzone time (only one or the other). 

However, I think it’s fair to say the more laps people have to do costs them time. It’s hard to quantify how much by but in this HYROX time killers article I VERY roughly guessed each additional lap required per kilometer could cost maybe 40 secs across the whole race (take that with a very big pinch of salt).  What’s more, more laps often mean more penalties for people running an incorrect number of laps.

The busyness of a running track also affects how fast you can run. This isn’t just a difference from venue to venue but is also dependent on the start time you get at the venue.  If you go out at a busy UK event when the doubles are still racing, that normally means the track is much busier than at a different time of the day.

The Roxzone layout can also affect your run+Roxzone time.  For example, in London Excel, as soon as you entered the Roxzone you had to effectively do a 180 degree turn to get to your station. Then the same again as you left the Roxzone to start the running.  That likely wasn’t conducive to a fast running / Roxzone time.

As mentioned, quantifying the effects of different running tracks (and start times) is difficult, but it is a major part of HYROX, and certainly does impact finishing times.

Finishing Times

So, with the main station differences discussed, what how do the overall finishing times look?

Summarised by region it looks like this:

Spain – 1:22:58

Rest of Europe – 1:26:54

USA – 1:32:30

Hong Kong – 1:33:06

Obviously, we need to remember the standard of athletes is different between those regions, this isn’t all down to venue differences.  That’s why looking within region can be more insightful…

For example, the fastest times we saw in Europe (excluding Spain) was a median time of 1:22:46 in Frankfurt and the slowest was 01:30:48 in Manchester.  Do I think the average standard of athletes in Frankfurt was a huge 8 minutes quicker than in Manchester? No, I think venue differences has played a big part.

The fastest Spain venue saw a median time of 01:20:54 in Bilbao, which was over 4 minutes quicker than in Madrid.

And the fastest US course was LA with a median Men’s open time of 1.31:13, which compares to the slowest of 1:33:17 in Chicago.

Summary

Of course, with different athletes at each venue, we can never be sure but I think it’s safe to say that venue differences do occur in HYROX and in some cases that can have a significant effect on finishing times.

We of course have to be realistic with expectations around consistency.  Some people say the venue should be exactly the same each time, but that’s just not feasible.  You can’t have the same set up in London (where there were 5000 people), as you do in New York (where there are less than half that amount).   For most athletes that’s just something to accept – for example, you don’t expect the London marathon to be exactly the same as the Berlin marathon.  But with the acceptance that venues can never be completely consistent, it may be worth considering if qualification for the Elite races should rely so much on finishing time, or if an alternative method could be used (as I write this we are still waiting to hear if the qualifying process will change for future seasons).

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!