HYROX Champs Challenge Top CrossFitters (and More) to $10,000 Race

In December of 2020, Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks won the HYROX World Championships, which took place in Hamburg, Germany. Now, both McIntyre and Weeks are hand-picking their opponents for HYROX’s Feb. 20, 2021, Dallas, TX event, which is taking place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

That’s right. The current champs are working with HYROX to pick nine other athletes that they think will pose the greatest threat to their fitness throne. Specifically, McIntyre tells BarBend that he’s after fitness and endurance focused athletes such as elite CrossFitters. This isn’t too much of a surprise as the two sports have a history of crossover appearances. Both of the champs have competed in CrossFit, as have HYROX athletes Samantha Briggs, who won the CrossFit Games in 2013, and Adam Klink, who has competed in six Regional events.  

“Right now, we’re looking at people who are up and coming talents or existing talents in the fitness and endurance world,” McIntyre says. “I want to bring [HYROX] to the U.S market, and I think the best way to put this thing out there is to have a high-level cash prize and a high-level competition event.”

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That cash prize McIntyre is talking about? Elite Race winners in both divisions get $10,000. Second place gets $3,000, and third claims $2,000. Not bad for a sport just getting its legs Stateside. After all, this is the fifth-ever HYROX event in the U.S. (and HYROX’s second time in Dallas).

That’s another reason behind HYROX’s invitee system for this upcoming event. McIntyre is hoping to attract the best athletes to come and compete, which, in turn, will attract more eyes (at least, that’s the plan). So far, the women’s roster is fully stacked, and there are three spots left for the men. McIntyre mentions that he is specifically pumped about Ryan Atkins — a prolific OCR champion who bested McIntyre in the 2020 Spartan Games event — coming out to compete. “He’s a stellar athlete,” McIntyre quips. As for who else he’d like to see in the final three slots?

“I would love for nothing more than to watch the pillars of CrossFit — Rich Froning, Mat Fraser, Patrick Vellner, Chandler Smith, Brent Fikowski, Noah Ohlsen — show up,” McIntyre says. “The worst thing that happens is you lose, and you learn. The best thing that happens is you win and show that you’re proven.” 

Here’s a breakdown of both the completed women’s roster and the men’s roster, as it stands:

Women’s Roster

• Lauren Weeks
• Alyssa Hawley
• Corinna Coffin
• Viola Oberländer
• Faye Stenning
• Kristi Eramo
• Brooke Bowen
• Sarah Harrison
• Ehea Scheurch 
• Lindsey Webster

Men’s Roster

• Hunter McIntyre
• Isaiah Vidal
• Grant McCartney
• Ryan Atkins
• Lukas Storath
• Elijah Muhammad
• Eric Hinman

What Is HYROX?

HYROX is an athletic race designed to tests a competitor’s endurance and strength. Compared to other fitness competitions — such as the CrossFit Games and most obstacle course races — HYROX’s format does not change. Each race consists of eight rounds of a one-kilometer (0.6-mile) run followed by a fitness event. This appeals to McIntyre, who likes the idea of having a purer baseline of overall fitness. Whereas the CrossFit Games — which is undoubtedly a supreme test of physical fitness — change year-to-year, HYROX stays the same. Here’s the full event list for the Dallas, TX event. Note: there’s a one-kilometer run between each event listed below, and the weights listed below are pro weights, which are different from the open wave. 

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HYROX Dallas Event List + Weights