Houston hosted the sixth American HYROX event of the 2022/23 season on 25th February 2023 at the George R Brown Convention Centre. There were some big names competing on the day, all hoping to cement their place in the Elite 15 qualifying spots for the upcoming World Championships.
Men’s Pro
The main story of the event was in the Men’s Pro race where Ryan Kent won in an incredible time of 56:52. That equals the second fastest time ever, and the fastest time ever in the 35-39 age group. It was also the fastest time of the season so far (until Alexander Roncevic beat it just 24 hours later in Vienna)!
It was an extremely impressive performance from Kent who will have been dissatisfied with his showing in the HYROX North American Championships in Chicago, just 2 weeks prior, where he finished 7th, over 3 minutes behind the ultimate winner, David Magida. Kent had finished 2nd place in last years World Championship, and will have been desperate to prove he is still a contender for this season’s title. He certainly did just that in Houston.Â
It feels like every week right now the Men’s Elite race at the 2023 HYROX World Championships hots up a little more. There are already 5 guys to have automatically qualified for that race, plus many more with extremely fast times, and still Hunter McIntyre, the reigning world champion, has yet to race. There are probably a list of at least 8 guys right now who could realistically win it this year – it’s going to be a great watch!
Second in the race was Rich Ryan, in 60:02m. Rich was disappointed to have not qualified for the recent regional championships elite races, and despite this time being a PB for him, and 20th fastest time of the season so far, it still narrowly keeps him out the automatic qualifying spots for the World Championships. He’ll, therefore, be eager to improve upon that time through the rest of the season. Third was Rylan Schadegg in 01:04:51.
Women’s Pro
The Women’s Pro race was won by Camilla Massa in a time of 01:07:39. She just beat newcomer Belle Macfarlane, who was second in 01:07:40 (and who is certainly going to be one to watch in the future if she can do this well on her debut in the sport), and the reigning HYROX World Champion, Kris Rugloski, who was third in 01:09:38.
Camilla’s win still leaves her just shy though of the automatic qualifying positions for the 2023 World Championships elite race, with the current 19th fastest time of the season so far (top 15 required). At the end of the day, Camilla was also part of the winning mixed doubles relay time along with Krus Rugloski, Kaleb Yates and Luke Halterman. In the below video, Camilla provides her comments on the day and her plans for the rest of the season…
Men’s Open
Fastest in the Men’s Open was Rob Pettyjohn in 1:04:25. Second was Alex Armiento in 01:05:13, and 3rd was Marc De Charmoy in 01:06:31.
Women’s Open
Fastest in the Women’s Open race was Stephanie Hillman in 1:08:41. Second was Jennifer Thompson in 01:11:09, and 3rd was Kailey Tucker in 01:12:46.
Doubles
The fastest Mixed Doubles pairing were husband and wife duo Kait and David Magida (the Men’s North American champion) in 01:00:37.
The Men’s doubles was won by Dylan Spencer and Tyler Spencer in an impressive 55:55.
Women’ doubles were won by Molly Johnson and Kara Mobly in 01:07:12.
Other US HYROX events are held in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Anaheim, Miami and Dallas.
For details on the most recent HYROX Houston event, visit here.
