Hyrox training in Wideopen,
built around your race.

Where to train in Wideopen

20 gyms and sports centres sit within a few miles of the centre of Wideopen. That is enough to choose on what the floor actually holds rather than on which is nearest.

Closest to the centre you have John Harbottle Sports Pavilion, highfivefitness and Newcastle Racecourse Stands, the nearest of them about 0.2 km out. Ring before you join and ask two questions: is there floor space to push a sled, and can you throw a ball at a wall. Those answers decide more than any membership tier.

John Harbottle Sports Pavilion and Newcastle Racecourse Stands are listed as sports centres rather than gyms. Multi-use sites are usually where the floor space is, which tends to be where the sled and carry work ends up happening.

Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing and David Lloyd Clubs have sites here, so an existing membership may already cover you. If you are joining from scratch, a rolling monthly contract is worth the few extra pounds while you work out which sessions you actually turn up for.

Where to run around Wideopen

You are well served for measured running around Wideopen. 5 parkrun courses sit within reach: Jesmond Dene parkrun, Town Moor parkrun and Rising Sun parkrun are the closest three, Jesmond Dene parkrun being about 6.2 km out. Use one as your fixed benchmark and run it in the same conditions each time, or the number tells you nothing.

All of them sit within about 9 km of each other, so you can rotate courses without the travel changing, which makes the times comparable.

Racing from Wideopen

Manchester Central Convention Complex is the nearest venue at roughly 179 km, so racing means a weekend away. Enter early, book the room at the same time, and treat the travel as part of the plan rather than an afterthought.

With the race that far out, the 5 parkruns nearby do more work than usual — it is the only regular measured effort you will get without a train ticket, so it carries the whole benchmarking job.