HYROX Glasgow

Sooner or later kings are dethroned. 

And as in all legends, the short history of HYROX was not going to be less, have been dominated by a king and a queen.

During some eras his reign has been in doubt. In others his dominance has been overwhelming. 

The elite Major 15 in Glasgow was perhaps the confirmation that the king looks set to cease to be king.

While the queen does not stop shining. 

Glasgow has served to see the fastest races ever made. Confirmed by 3 of the 4 best times in history and a Spanish record with a bittersweet taste.

Where to see HYROX Glasgow

What is a HYROX Major elite 15

The Major elite 15 are the four most important events, after the World Cup, of the international elite season at HYROX.

All the best hybrid racers in the world have them as their main goal for the year for three reasons:

• The main one is to qualify for the World Championship. Each Major gives three places. The first three who are not yet qualified get the dreamed "Slot".

• A secondary one is the vile metal. The Majors are the only HYROX events with financial prizes.

• And the other is prestige. Currently, winning or at least achieving a place of honor in them is synonymous with getting sponsors and increasing the number of people who hire the programming of the athletes who count on them.

This makes Majors participants have the option of becoming professional athletes. (without a training schedule to your name today only Hunter could be). 

Pelayo Menéndez is the latest case to turn professional, leaving his job as an engineer to focus on training and his Pele_perfomance programming.

Outside of the Majors you are just a good popular athlete.

To enter the Major circus there are only two options:

• By postTo have won a major in the previous season or to be in the top three in the world without a major. This adds up to 7 athletes.
• By timeTo have the best averages (up to 15 participants) of your two best HYROX of the last 365 days.

There have already been three majors this season:

Men's test

The test had the great absence of world champion Roncevic and the winner in Las Vegas Dylan Scott.

Since James Kelly had not particularly shined in Las Vegas, the a priori favorite was the King of HYROX, Hunter McIntyre.

McIntyre, three times world champion, holder of the world record, 3rd best time (Barcelona 23) and especially the great image of HYROX in the world in recent years, came to win his first major.

Apart from the winner, there was great interest in who would get the three places for the World Cup.

World runner-up Sandy (Michael Sandbach) and Red Bull's image in the sport. Jake Dearden were the most frequently mentioned in the betting pools.

The start began as usual with the German Tim Wenich going absolutely "on fire" with Hunter, Sandbach and Kelly close behind him.

In the sleds, Hunter began to leave bad sensations while the usual comebackers (Pelayo, Beau Wills, Rich Ryan) kept their distance with the lead.

Aussie/Majorcan Jon Wynn, who had been ill, withdrew.

Pelayo a few years ago burpees (and later some spectacular strides) while James Kelly takes the lead and Sandbach is going down (he will end up retiring as usual when the race doesn't work out).

Wenisch remains solid (what a great season for the German) behind Kelly who goes straight for the world record. Pelayo along with Rich Ryan who is fighting for the slot (the others named were already qualified) manage to catch Hunter.

The wall balls and the approach is this:

• Kelly first with Hunter's world record within reach.
• Wenisch at 49 seconds.
• Pelayo at 1:29 (the Spanish record was assured but he was fighting for the podium).
• Rich Ryan at 1:38 with his spot for Chicago secure.
• Beau Wills already qualified fighting for the podium next to Hunter
• Shortly after, Dearden fought for second place in the world championship with the Czech Republic's Tvrdik.

James Kelly he breaks once and gets a non-rep. He sprints in and misses the record... by one second! It is evidently the second best time in history 53:23 (he also has the third).

Wenisch (54:31) confirms the second position (10th best time ever). Ryan not only gets the slot but also the podium with 54:54 (11th best time... he already had the seventh).

The New Zealander Wills fourth (55:02, 12th ever) and Pelayo quinto with the feeling of having the podium and losing it in the walls balls. Even so, the Oviedo native beat his own Spanish record (55:23 with 1:36 of improvement no less) and the 16th best time in history.

Dearden get the second slot and Tvrdik he goes for the third... but wait... The Irishman Noble finishes at the same time and they both sprint across the finish line. Noble dives in headfirst and beats the Czech Republic by three thousandths of a second. achieving 12th place for ChicagoUnbelievable!

Hunter McIntyre enters 9th with the feeling that his reign is coming to an end.. His last great performance was in the second major in history (Stockholm 2023) where he broke the world record. Since then he alternates remarkable performances with disappointments. None outstanding.

Personally I think that he still has the world championship to deliver the crown definitively. As expected in such a young sport, the average level has risen a lot this year. In the past, the North American used to get by with an average performance. Now he will have to be at 110% in Chicago if he wants to taste the sweetness of victory again.

And if not, he will have to hand over the crown. Princes Roncevic and Kelly are burning with desire to possess it.

Results ELITE 16 MAJOR Glasgow men

World Cup Qualifiers

They obtain a place in the World Cup:
Rich Ryan
Jake Dearden
Sean Noble

All non-qualifiers will have the last chance in Barcelona at the end of April. The first three of that wave (last chance qualifier) will get the last three slots. There will be athletes like

• Michael Sandbach (2nd world)
• Jon Wynn (about to qualify in the other 3 majors)
• Tomas Tvrdik (out of slot by 3 thousandths)
• Jannik Czapla (4th in the Amsterdam major)
• Afan Humphries (two Majors)
• Sebastian Ifversen (2 Majors and 5th in bilbao)
• Harry Thomson (3 majors)
• Joffrey Voisin (3 majors this year)
• Sadiq Eltifouri (2 Majors - 2nd Bilbao)

And many Europeans and some North Americans with sub61

In addition to Emilio Aguayo, Pablo Sanchez and Aitor Lizarazu. 

Women's Test

The queen is still on the throne.

Lauren Weeks has been a three-time HYROX world champion. Just like Hunter. She also lost the world championship in Nice like her compatriot.

Unlike McIntyre, Weeks has won three of the four Majors this year.. The back surgery of her great rival and current world champion Meg Jacoby seemed to have left the field open for her.

The Australian Joanna Wietrzyk (I will never memorize how to spell it) disagreed with this statement. Apart from winning the Hong Kong Major he has really put Lauren on the ropes in the Glasgow Major. 

Several absences of top girls. Of course the world champion Jacoby. Also the Danish Ida Steengard and the Americans Bevilaqua and Griffith. All of them already qualified for Chicago.

In reality there were two tests. The young Australian against the American on one side and the rest in search of podium or slot on the other.

Lauren goes all out (as usual) but Joanna comes back and overtakes her on the sleds. Both are alternating within a few seconds of each other. The pace is brutal and the world record can already be sensed when coming out of the burpees.

If Lauren is the queen because she has been at the top of HYROX since almost her birth, Joanna is the princess because she has been in this sport that seems to be made for her for less than a year.

Many of us already consider her the favorite for Chicago due to the rapid evolution she has shown in recent months. 

While the German Seka Arning is having the race of her life. In the last Majors she had come out on top but then went down but in Glasgow she was seen with one more point.

Third in the world Vivian Tafuto after a few months missing due to injuryM is going from strength to strength and halfway through the race is placed next to the German. Both are fighting for a place in the world championship.

Behind the German Maier and the young Englishwoman Procter (both of them already have the slot) are close to the previous ones. Playing for the last place for Chicago are Australia's Petrow, Italy's Massa and England's Piergiani.

Weeks leaves Wietrzyk in lunges and especially after a scandalous race afterwards. The first 12 qualified women do the wall balls unbroken so there are no changes in the ranking unlike the men in the final workout.

Lauren Weeks wins with new world record 56:22 (1:40 less than the previous one which was also his)

Joanna Wietrzyk second with the second best record in history 56:48.

Results Women Elite 15 HYROX Glasgow

Qualified to the World Cup

They obtain a place in the World Cup:
Vivian Tafuto
Seka Arnig
Jess Pettrow

The North American Tafuto gets slot, podium and the 10th best time in history 59:37. She is also the fourth woman to be sub60.

Arnig second slot, fourth and 17th mark ever 1h00:27

The Australian Petrow third slot and seventh, dropping by one second from 1h01.

Why was the Glasgow major so fast?

The two best marks in women's history. The second and four more in the men's fifteen.

A couple of weeks ago, taking advantage of the good times in Vienna, I wrote in the hybrid newsletter the reasons why some HYROX are faster than others. 

Here is a summary:

• Weather: The higher the temperature and humidity, the worse the conditions for performance.
• The carpet of the sleds: Hard" sleds not only slow down your test, they also generate more fatigue and wear and tear for what's left.
• The race track: The bigger the curve, the less curves it will have and the less tight the curves, the less time will be lost in each one of them.
• How much more traffic on the race track the more time is lost passing sportsmen and less braking you will do.
• The size of the workout areas: All the space that is run within the zones does not count towards the 8.7 km.

The majors are done in grid format (no roxzone) where there is no traffic, the race is usually the same and there are lanes to do burpees and lunges apart from the sleds. The roxzone space is divided between workouts and kilometers, so the partials are not comparable with the normal format of HYROX events.

If they are among the rest of the elite 15 tests.

In Glasgow it seemed to be warm and the sleds were sliding well.

Adding up the times of the two sleds, the difference between Nice (grabbing sleds) and Glasgow for the top places is over a minute every time.

For example, Pelayo in the world championships in Nice did 7:19 (3:10 in the push and 4:09 in the pull). In Glasgow 5:32 (2:24 and 3:08).

It is evident that the level of all elite participants is rising.

They are becoming more and more professional (time to train and especially to recover). There is more and more knowledge of how to train and the accumulation of several seasons with specific training makes the level rise like bitcoin when Trump won the election.

This is why I think Hunter's reign is on its last legs. The Californian has not lowered his level, but the level of his rivals has risen.

On the other hand, the queen Lauren Weeks continues to improve. It should be noted that her husband Anthony Peressini not only trains her but also James Kelly, so he can be considered the big winner of this last Major.

All stories have an ending, and this season's story will be in HYROX Chicago in June. Before that, it remains HYROX Barcelona (April 26). 

You can read the chronicles of both here.