HYROX is 8km of running split into eight 1km segments, each one followed by a single functional station. The order is fixed: SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, row, farmers carry, sandbag lunges, wall balls. That sequence is identical at every event in the world.
That is the whole format. The rest of this page is the detail that actually changes how you race it.
Why trust this
Ben Sutherland races HYROX on the Elite 15 start list in Pro Doubles, with a doubles best of 49:24 set at the Warsaw Major in 2026. Every weight and distance below is taken from the official HYROX singles rulebook for the 26/27 season, not from secondary sources.
The running: 8km, in eight pieces
You run 1km, you do a station, you run 1km, you do the next station. Eight times. The final wall ball station is the last thing you do before the finish line, with no run after it.
The running distance does not change by division. A Men's Pro athlete and a Women's Open athlete run exactly the same 8km. Only the loads differ.
One thing the format description hides: you are not running 8km, you are running eight 1km efforts off eight different kinds of fatigue. The kilometre after the sled push is a different physiological event from the opening kilometre, and it is the one most first-timers lose the most time on.
The eight stations, in order
| # | Station | Distance / reps | What it costs you | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | SkiErg | 1000m | Upper back and lungs, early | | 2 | Sled push | 50m (4 x 12.5m) | Legs. The single biggest early mistake | | 3 | Sled pull | 50m (4 x 12.5m) | Grip, lats, lower back | | 4 | Burpee broad jumps | 80m | Everything, plus heart rate | | 5 | Rowing | 1000m | A rest for the legs if you pace it | | 6 | Farmers carry | 200m | Grip, again, when it is already gone | | 7 | Sandbag lunges | 100m | Quads. Where races unravel | | 8 | Wall balls | 100 reps | The whole body, on empty |
Between each run and each station there is a transition area, the Roxzone. Time spent there counts. It is not a rest.
The official weights, by division
HYROX runs four divisions. The load table has a quirk worth knowing: Women's Pro uses the same loads as Men's Open. The rulebook groups them in a single column.
| Station | Women Open | Men Open / Women Pro | Men Pro | |---|---|---|---| | SkiErg | 1000m | 1000m | 1000m | | Sled push (4 x 12.5m) | 102kg incl. sled | 152kg incl. sled | 202kg incl. sled | | Sled pull (4 x 12.5m) | 78kg incl. sled | 103kg incl. sled | 153kg incl. sled | | Burpee broad jumps | 80m | 80m | 80m | | Rowing | 1000m | 1000m | 1000m | | Farmers carry (200m) | 2 x 16kg | 2 x 24kg | 2 x 32kg | | Sandbag lunges (100m) | 10kg | 20kg | 30kg | | Wall balls (100 reps) | 4kg | 6kg | 9kg |
Two details that are widely reported incorrectly elsewhere:
Sled weights include the sled itself. A 152kg men's Open sled push is not 152kg of plates on top of a sled. It is 152kg total. If you have been loading 152kg of plates in training, you have been training well over race weight.
Wall balls are 100 reps for every division in the 26/27 rulebook. The women's Open count was reduced to 75 reps for the 25/26 season, and a great deal of content still online repeats that number. The current rulebook lists 100 reps across all four divisions. Check the rulebook for the season you are racing rather than trusting a blog, including this one, if you are reading it a year from now.
Wall ball target heights are 2.70m for Women and Women Pro, 3.00m for Men and Men Pro.
How the sequence actually races
The order is not random, and understanding what it does to you is worth more than memorising it.
Stations 1 to 3 are the trap. The SkiErg and both sleds arrive while you feel fresh. You are not fresh, you have just run a kilometre, but adrenaline hides it. Athletes who attack the sled push here pay for it across the remaining six kilometres. The sled push is the most common place a first race goes wrong.
Stations 4 to 5 are the sorting hat. Burpee broad jumps spike your heart rate with nowhere to hide, and then the row hands you a thousand metres where you can either recover or dig a deeper hole. Good racers treat the row as active recovery. It is the only station where sitting still and breathing is a legitimate tactic.
Stations 6 to 8 are the race. Grip is already compromised by the sled pull when the farmers carry arrives. The lunges then take your quads. And wall balls, 100 of them, land last by design, when you have nothing left and the target still has to be hit cleanly every rep.
The practical part: your first-race pacing rule
If you do one thing with this page, do this.
- Run your first kilometre at a pace you could hold for a 10k, not a 5k. It will feel absurdly easy. That is correct.
- Break the sled push into planned segments before you start. Four sections of 12.5m gives you natural stopping points. Use them from the first rep, not from the moment you fail.
- Sit down on the row and let your heart rate come down for the first 200m. You will lose ten seconds and get back a minute.
- Break the wall balls into sets from rep one. Sets of ten with a five-second reset beats sets of twenty-five followed by a collapse.
Honest limitations
This page tells you what the race is. It does not tell you whether you are ready for it, and it will not make you faster on its own.
The format is also not the whole difficulty. Venue floor, running track layout, the number of laps per kilometre, wave congestion and Roxzone length all move finishing times meaningfully between events. Two identical performances at two venues can differ by minutes. Be careful comparing your time to a friend's from a different city.
If you are racing for the first time, the format is the easy part to learn. The pacing is the hard part, and it takes one race to properly understand.
Next step
Work out where you actually sit before you pick a target time. The fitness assessment quiz takes a few minutes and gives you a realistic starting point rather than a guess.
If you would rather have something to train from, the free HYROX plan maker builds a structured block around your current running and strength, and it is free.
Source: all weights, distances and rep counts above are from the official HYROX singles rulebook, season 26/27.
[ FAQ ]
Frequently asked
What is the HYROX race format?
HYROX is 8km of running split into eight 1km segments, each followed by one functional station. The order is SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, row, farmers carry, sandbag lunges, wall balls. The order is identical at every event worldwide.
Does the HYROX course change between cities?
The format does not. The station order, distances and weights are fixed by the rulebook and are the same in London as in Chicago. What varies is the running track layout, the number of laps per kilometre and the venue floor, which is why times are not perfectly comparable across venues.
How long is the running in HYROX?
8km total, as eight separate 1km segments. The running distance is the same across all four divisions. Only the station loads change.
Written by
The Suth Performance teamCoaches and editors
The Suth Performance programming team, led by HYROX Elite 15 athlete Ben Sutherland.
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