For more on Hyrox you can read my race report from last year: here (part one) and here (part two)

I’m assuming for this race report that you now know everything about Hyrox and what happens when you take part. If not, then please complete the homework above and then come back to this paragraph.

Homework complete, this year’s Hyrox was spread over two days and had 4,000 athletes complete at the SECC. It was so busy, that athletes were still being sent out in waves at 8pm. Admittedly, and sensibly, the faster athletes went later so there was no risk that someone was still trying to complete the wall balls at midnight.

We were in the 1840 wave, which was late, but it looked like the waves were being sent out in alphabetical order. As TwinBikeRun we were in the T wave, which was ironic as we couldn’t have any T(ea) as we were racing at dinner time. Instead, I had a large lunch, then an afternoon snack, then I regretted eating too much and felt myself too full during the race. Better planning needed in the future. Or better eating. I could just have had less sweet things and more fruit and fibre…

Unlike last year, there was a changing room for competitors. Last year we had to use a toilet to get changed, this year we had a corner of a hall surrounded by Heras fencing. Unfortunately, Heras fencing doesn’t overlap, it has gaps between fencing so it was less a changing room and more a peep show for anyone who fancied seeing some male nudity.

Not that they needed to – just like last year, Hyrox seems to remove most male sense of decency as half the competitors race topless. Why? I have no idea. You spend part of the event with your chest on the ground doing burpees, why you would to be naked on the same spot everyone else has sweated on is something I don’t understand. Are they more aerodynamic? Is a macho thing? Did they just forget their gym kit and, like a Primary School PE class, they’re made to take part anyway? I have no idea. But if you do decide to take part, please remember your tshirt. If not for me, at least for my wife, who dammed the confidence of all of wannabe adonis last year by loudly saying “It’s not like they’re even braw!”

For this second attempt, I practiced my burpees by training properly. Well, maybe not training. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube to confirm the right technique. This meant the burpees were not as horrible as last year.

I also tried a different approach to the farmer’s carry. Last year, after chalking my hands to carry the weights, I’d sweated away the chalk by the halfway point. This year I put a chunk of chalk in my short pocket and reapplied it when my hands started to slip. Smart. (And I don’t think it was cheating as I couldn’t find anything in the rules that say you can’t use the chalk again).

Overall, a great event that is well run, filled with a variety of challenges and well worth a go if you fancy something different.