HYROX Valencia

This weekend begins the HYROX season 2025/26 in Spain. The season after the explosion. The season of (we will see) confirmation.

The HYROX of Valencia starts a new season where there will again be five events:

• HYROX Valencia in October (3 days of competition)
• HYROX Madrid in November (4 days of competition)
• HYROX Bilbao in February (2 days of competition)
• HYROX Malaga in April (4 days of competition)
• HYROX Barcelona in May (4 days of competition)

Chronicle October 2025

A few days ago, in the preview of this HYROX in Valencia, I theorized about the performance of one of the sensations of this season, the Englishman Charlie Botterill:

"There is a lot of expectation to see his performance in the capital of Turia. I theorize that he has been at the top level for two weekends and I doubt that he will repeat it in a third".

I guess you know by now that I was dead wrong. I will elaborate on your performance at a later date.

The first HYROX of the Spanish season was held this weekend. Nearly 9000 participants finished the race. I guess that means we are very close to surpassing 10,000 registrants.

Several changes with respect to others, with lights and shadows, as it cannot be otherwise, in such oversized and complex events.

Personally I am sad that the Saturday Pro events are no longer being broadcast on YouTube.

During the last two seasons there was live and I imagine that from now on it will be complex for them to return. I do not know the reasons but I suspect that HYROX global wants to have total control of their product and only wants to broadcast the Majors. Already in Barcelona we did not see the LCQ because of that. Maybe it is a problem of budget and investment/performance ratio. 

After speaking with dozens of competitors this weekend the vast majority agree that they did not like the race track. Me neither. The reason is that being almost three turns and having angled corners, we had to make 11 tight turns per kilometer.

This is a minor problem and I think in this case unavoidable, due to the reduced dimensions of the chosen pavilion. These small dimensions (compared to other previous HYROX in Spain) also meant that the spectators did not have a large space to watch the workouts.

Nothing to say about the roxzone. As expected in such a standardized product everything was perfect. 

In Valencia the overall times of the participants were as a rule slower than the average of other events. There is plenty of data to refute this. In the elite section you will see some of them.

The reason for these higher-than-usual times, apart from the short, banked race course and wall ball counters a bit finickyis the performance of the carpet in the Sled Push.

And this was the big topic of conversation after the race. The premiere of the new Centr carpet in Spain.

I'll give you some context: The supplier of all HYROX material. Centr (and its great partner with Puma) has created a carpet that means that theoretically all HYROXs in the world are made under the same conditions. In this way they are more comparable and the experience of the competitors is more complete.

Analyzing the results of foreign events this season, it was perceived that the carpet generated a significant friction with the sled. 

In Valencia this friction was higher in the Sled Push. and many competitors went through an ordeal to overcome them.

Personally, a few questions come to mind.

Why do carpets, which are theoretically the same, generate higher average times in some tests than in others?

Does this really matter to the 75/80% of competitors who do not have such a large involvement with your bottom line?

Is an average competitor going to enjoy a slower event just as much as a faster one?

Does this really matter to HYROX Spain?

Let's see.

Personally I like the sleds to be tough. I think HYROX is an endurance test where the sleds have the responsibility to be the part where the strength is the protagonist. With sleds "easy"would lose its essence hybrid.

I also personally like to make the circuits as comparable as possible to each other. I like to try to improve my times. It motivates me to train to feel that I am progressing and a good way to do that is to improve my times. 

I have to say that my personal experience as a competitor is somewhat distorted when I encounter slower circuits than others. 

I know that many of the competitors experience it as I do. I am also sure that most of them don't care or are simply unaware of these differences. 

In my newsletter in the next few days I will go deeper into this topic of the Sled Push that will give much more play than you might think. Change of technique and greater importance of the shoes included.

Despite these circumstances for me the test as always has a high note. I quite liked going through the tunnel when leaving the paddle. I did not experience anything particularly reprehensible and if a high organizational capacity as it can not be otherwise in an event with an average price of more than 120 €.

As in all events I read and hear complaints:

The truth is that I do not want to generalize, in the chronicles I write, particular experiences. I prefer to give importance to general patterns.

If there is one thing that stands out for me, it was the sled push.

Women's Pro

As I told you in the previous article, there were two important departures. The one on Friday and the one on Saturday. 

In the women's category Manuela Garcia won on Friday, as expected, with solvency.

When he saw his time while traveling to Valencia (three and a half minutes more than when he won in Hamburg two weeks ago) I thought he took it as training.

She was followed by the big surprise of Friday. The Andalusian Monica Ferrer with 1h08 in such a tough course, has a great merit (8th overall).

On Saturday there were more top athletes, although the Belgian favorite did not compete in the end. Lena Putters. 

The Austrian Tanja Stroschneider won with 1h06 but did not beat Manuela's time. Tanja is a competitor of Majors, with very similar times to the Almeriense.

Manuela confirmed to me by MD that she went out to race hard but when she saw that she was not in good times she decided not to force and save her strength. She will need them for the next Majors where she will almost certainly be.

After the Austrian came the Portuguese one Leonor Neto. Sandra Dominguez was fifth in the overall and second best Spaniard. Melania Timon made another great time with 1h09 (9th).

Pro Male

I have already told you in the introduction that I totally missed the mark with Charlie Botterill. The young Englishman won on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday with a fast time for a slow event (56:24). He beat Tomas Tvrdik (5th in the Hamburg Major) per minute and a half. Also at Jon Wynnthe current 5th in the world, by almost two minutes.

Superb Englishman. Winner of the unofficial title to the sensation of the beginning of the season. 

On Saturday, the ubetense Peter TotalHe pushed him hard but did not manage to beat him (5th overall). Pedro with his second sub60 (after 58 minutes in Rome) has also earned the title of the Spanish sensation of the beginning of the season.

Third and sixth in the Overall finished Robert Viciedo with a performance in his homeland that did not leave a good taste in his mouth.

Finally I leave you a comparison of total times and the time in the Sled Push of several competitors. From Botterill I have chosen his Friday test and from Manuela I have put three competitions. All of them are normal circuit (not Major) and performed in the last month.

I leave the conclusions to you.

October Preview

Many of us competitors bought our ticket a good handful of months ago. I don't remember when exactly, it must have been back in the wake of the summer.

What I do remember is that I had to keep at a time I was on a virtual waiting list and there were some tense moments to see if I would successfully complete my ticket purchase. I finally completed the registration. It was the first one where you had the option to buy a cancellation insurance (Flex Add On) at a cost of 15€. The consequence is that I will not be able to resell it.

I was telling you that those of us who were the first to register had a certain urgency to buy and not run out of tickets. Immediately Sold Out was published. The truth is that during the last weeks of September and October there have been tickets for sale, in most of the categories, on the HYROX website. 

I don't know if the reason for those tickets on sale, when months ago they seemed to be sold out, is because competitors are cashing in on the Flex Add On, because HYROX Spain increases the number of competitors per Wave by enlarging the workout spaces or simply that the Sold Out was fictitious.

Making an eyeball calculation I get that we will compete 10,000 athletes. A very serious number, absolute record in Valencia and third or fourth largest event in Spain ever.

We will have to run 3 laps in the first kilometer.

Two turns and three quarters in the following ones.

For the usual in recent events in Spain, the race course is short and the consequence is that the Roxzone will be somewhat smaller than usual.

In the individual waves we will have a maximum of 41 athletes and in doubles 32 pairs. This will make the race course not too crowded.

In the approximately 360 meters of the circuit we will run at the same time an average of 160 athletes in singles and 220 in doubles.

I have made the exercise of making a small analysis of the competitors by country. You probably know that national events the influx of foreigners (especially British) is huge. That influences, in my opinion, in the great growth of HYROX in Spain and in the continuous rise of ticket prices.

In individual Open on Friday will participate:

260 from UK
149 Spanish 
100 Irish
71 Netherlands
68 French
27 Italian

Saturday (open individual)

572 Spanish
175 from UK
85 French
41 Irish
40 Netherlands
40 Italian

Elite Women

There will be a Pro test on both Friday and Saturday.

Unfortunately the best competitors are spread over the two days so we won't be able to see everyone together.

Friday will be a cakewalk for our top competitor. Manuela Garciawho is growing steadily and who has just won in Hamburg and finished second in Maastricht, will have no rival.

I don't know if Manuela will try to improve her second best time (Berlin 1h02) to place herself even better in the race for the Majors (the two best times in the last 365 days count) or if she just comes to compete.

Petra Arvela is the only competitor that, in principle, will be able to follow her from afar.

Saturday will be more interesting.

The young Belgian Lena Putters after almost glory in the first Major in Hamburg and being penalized for 3 minutes for skipping a lap, she is signed up. In her instagram she gives no sign of traveling so I don't know if she will finally do it.

The one who has confirmed on her Insta that she is coming to Valencia is the Austrian Tanja Stroschneider who is a competitor of Manuela's level and who can question the victory of the Almerian.

Two of the best Spaniards will compete with them. The Madrilenian Sandra Dominguez (1h07) which is the second best in Spain by time and Galician Silvia Garcia Lorenzo who did a great world championship with 1h10.

Elite Men

Two of the weekend's top competitors are scheduled for Friday. Current World Elite 5th Jon Wynnwho has confirmed his presence. The big surprise of the Major of Hamburg, the Czech Tomas Tvrdik (54 min), he is signed up but on his Instagram he hasn't posted anything so I quarantine his participation.

Jon has commented that he is not coming for a record (he doesn't need it to go to the Majors since he is qualified for all of them) but to look for sensations. His big challenge will be in the first Major to be held in his country (Australia) in a month and a half.

On Saturday, the best Spaniards will compete alongside one of the great sensations of the beginning of the season.

Beginning with the young Englishman Charlie Botterill who a week ago made one of the best ever times outside the elite circuit (54min in Gdansk-Poland) and who two weeks ago was on the verge of a podium in the elite double at the Hamburg Major.

There is a lot of expectation to see his performance in the capital of Turia. I theorize that he has been at the top level for two weekends and I doubt that he will repeat it in a third.

The local Emilio Aguayo who made his debut on the elite circuit in Hamburg with a calf injury, is a doubt. In fact, he it is quite likely that I will not participate.

Also local (Onda - Castellon) Roberto Viciedo I think he competes to win and to convince. I expect him to perform at the highest level.

His doubles partner (both elite world runners-up) Luis Garcia Rubio and current U24 world champion, also competes. Luis is more of a big championship rider but I think he needs to be with the best and gain confidence for the long season ahead.

Many of us will be keeping a close eye on Pedro Toral. Second in Rome (after Rober Viciedo) with 58, which proves that he is among the world elite. 

Finally, I would like to point out the debut in women's pro pairs of two of the best Spanish players. Noelia Gonzalez and Paula Bernabé the fight to enter the circuit of majors in doubles begins here. 

After this intense weekend you will be able to read the chronicle here.

Chronicle March 2025 edition

Apart from correct decisions, HYROX Spain gives the impression that it is already doing events like hot cakes.

The level of organization is such that structurally no differences between tests are noticeable. Everything starts to be extremely predictable and consequently positive.

There has been one major development and some minor problems.

🔄 The novelty is that at last, the Spanish premiere of the wall ball rep counter. There are still not many events worldwide where it is used but it is very useful for the athlete and for the spectator. Hopefully it will be definitive in future events.

❌ The minor problems I was told (I did not experience it firsthand) was that some sled carpets were not going well but were quickly resolved.

❌ Another is that since there are two days with the same categories, not many competitors from Saturday can go to the podium and those from Sunday have an advantage since they know the marks of the previous day's competitors.

By deciding to hold the second day months after the first (due to the sold out and increasing demand) doubling the days of each category is the least bad solution. It is a small chore but also a "lesser evil".

The pavilion was smaller than in the last Spanish events. This has two effects:

• We had to make almost three turns for each kilometer. The consequence is that we found ourselves with more 90º turns and some narrowings especially at the crossing point. In doubles it was a complicated test for those who wanted to run fast. In my case (pro Saturday) there were zero traffic problems.
• Compared to Bilbao, the event was slower because of the greater number of 90º turns (4 per kilometer) and because the sled carpeting generated more friction.
• There was less public space to watch the workouts. The tents, bag drop, locker room and warm-up area were outside the roxzone.

These two points are neither negative nor positive, they simply are.

HYROX pro women

Spain is the only country that broadcasts the pro tests live (through its YouTube channel) beyond the majors. We are fortunate for the involvement of HYROX Iberia on this point.

This allowed me to watch the women's race at the hotel (I was participating hours later).

When I arrived at Feria Valencia a couple of hours later, the people I met told me the same thing: The feeling that Manuela gave me of a great competitor.

The metaphor that caught my attention was the following:"Manuela already has the aura of a super athlete".

🏅 Manuela García Caparros

The Almeriense based in Madrid Manuela García Caparros is the best Spanish HYROX athlete. This is an indisputable fact as she has won the last 3 HYROX she has participated in the peninsula (Malaga 24, Madrid 24.2 and Valencia 25.

• He has beaten the Spanish record by a wide margin. this weekend (remember the track was slow).
• He has 4 of the 10 best marks in pro history.
• The record in Open and
• came third in Europe in her age group 15 days ago in Vienna.

Most importantly, it has that aura (I insist that fits very well with the feeling that Manuela leaves) that it is above the rest.

Almeria is CAFYD, trainer, former CrossFit competitor.

He had never trained running until he tried HYROX a year and a half ago..

Most importantly, he has the conviction that he is going to make it to the world elite and he is working very hard for it.

Roses are not only for the winner. 

🥈 Sandra Dominguez

Sandra Dominguezsecond, had a great race.

She was next to Manuela until the sled pull that made the difference. Sandra (second also in Bilbao) has made the second best Spanish time in history in this slow circuit.

Spoiler: It's not the last time I'm going to say it in this chronicle... the slow track thing hahaha.

Sandra did better on foot than Manuela but the loss came in the stations. The Madrilenian also has her sights set on getting closer to the European elite and is also working hard to achieve it.

Third the Portuguese Daniel Couto (he has already competed in a Major).

Sixth Jennifer Marin who is an Andalusian who has exploded in recent weeks.

He debuted in Malaga by chance 10 months ago in Open (he comes from CrossFit) and got hooked.

In Bilbao he already gave a great performance.

In Valencia he made the 9th best time in history despite the fact that he was not in his best condition, according to what he told me. He participated on Sunday.

Seventh Marta del Real confirms what many of us knew.

This Mallorcan with a huge engine begins to dominate the race and to demonstrate her true level (national elite). 11th best time in Spanish history. Participated on Sunday.

Here are the eleven best Spanish marks in history. You can see the evolution of the Spanish women (the five best in the last five months) and the high level of the Valencia event.

HYROX pro men

🏅Emilio Aguayo

Emilo Aguayo is a Valencian who has been one of the best long distance triathletes that has been in our country. Several times champion of Spain, several podiums in Lanzarote and winner in an official Ironman in USA (Wisconsin 2019). 

The bison (as he is known in the tri) had a break from success after the pandemic that led him to try HYROX starting this fall. The truth is that it seems to be a sport created for him: 1.90 m tall, robust bone structure and a huge engine.

He has only participated in three individual HYROX:

• In London, he made his debut at the end of the year in the open, beating the entire English armada and beating the Spanish record. (which was subsequently pulverized in Vienna by Pablo Sanchez, Rober Viciedo and Luis Garcia).
• In Bilbao he did a great race being somewhat conservative (sixth position).
• In Valencia it was different. He went out on fire (at 3:00 per mil for the first 360m lap) and maintained a devastating race level. He did the 8 km at 3:24 average (27:12 not counting the roxzone) which is top world level. 

For example, Graham Holliday (top 8 in the last two World Championships) did 2 minutes more in the race split times at the Madrid HYROX in the fall than Emilio did in Valencia.

Right now he can look Roncevic, Hunter or Pelayo in the face without complexes at the career level.

🥈Aitor Lizarazu

Aitor Lizarazu initially was not going to travel to the city of Turia, but decided to run the day before.

No tapering week, no bagpipes, he showed up at noon with zero pressure.

He went out calmly, as he usually does, and was coming back up until he was relatively close to Emilio after the pull.

Both kept the distance close to a minute until Aguayo's wall balls began to miss more than they should have and Aitor saw a window of opportunity.

Finally the Valencian won with a margin of 20 seconds but there were moments of some intrigue.

I wrote it in the chronicle of Bilbao and I reaffirm it again:

Both Aitor and Emilio have the level to be in the Elite 15 final of the World Cup. (Pablo Sanchez also).

It is true that there are a good handful of foreigners who have already participated in Majors and who have marks and experience.

It is also true that the three Spaniards are already close to them and that they are progressing in level.

Three places for the elite finals will be played in Barcelona and all three will be neck and neck with all these top-level hybrid racers.

And I'm going to take a gamble. While I was watching Emilio leaving, being in the warm-up area, I commented something that I really think: If everything goes well for the Valencian this year (maintaining focus and maximum motivation, chaining hard training and no injuries) I see him in the 25/26 season settled in the top 10 in the world. 

Just remember that he has only been in this sport for a few months (in July he did his last Ironman) and that he has only raced two pro races, both under 59 min... something that if I am not mistaken has not been achieved by anyone in the short history of this sport.

The third and fourth place finishers participated in Sunday's wave.

Third the French Alan Cao. Winner of the HYROX Malaga 24. He is well established in these times but this year has not yet made the leap in quality to move to the next level.

Fourth the Galician Ruben Patiño I personally was very happy to see him back in more advanced positions.

Ruben was the second Spaniard to go under the hour two years ago in Hannover with 59:04 (the first was Alfons Deu in Malaga 23). Patiño, who because of his work situation can not train as much as he would like and does not have sleds, has the capacity to be higher and as soon as he can train more consistently he will achieve it.

He will compete in Malaga and maybe in Barcelona.

These are the first 5 classified:

1st Emilio Aguayo 58:38
2nd Aitor Lizarazu 58:56
3º Alan Cao 1h00:43
4th Ruben Patiño 1h00:54
5º Igor Arruti 1h01:02

Somewhat further back, apart from the classics (Pablo Valverde, Jorge, Rober, Luis...) I would like to highlight these novelties.

9º Erlaitz Cano in Gasteiz has lowered his record by 5 minutes. In Bilbao he already went under the hour in open. OCR athlete confirms me that due to these two results he is going to focus on HYROX to try to reach the national elite.

11º Sergio Olivares. The fireman from Alcalá, after a worse start of the year than he expected, returns to the high competitive level. Watch out for Sergio in Malaga and especially in Barcelona.

12º Fernando Suárez Medina. Canarian with powerlifting background and 1,90 height. As his career level rises, he is moving up positions. Watch out for him in the future. He is a trainer in a sports center.

I take this opportunity to let you know the 15 times that a Spaniard has gone under 59 minutes in pro.

The great dominator of this classification is Pelayo Menéndez who will compete this Wednesday in the last Major of the year in Glasgow (there will be a chronicle).

As fast as the circuit is, I am convinced that apart from a great position, there will be a new Spanish record.

Other classifications

Pro men's doubles

1º Roger Marti Vargas, Victor Esparza Monreal 55:23
2º Jorell Hill, Jack Sharp 56:54
3º Adrián Martínez Jiménez, Antonio Marí Vargas 57:56

Women's Pro Doubles

1ª Jodie Bray, Samantha Grist 01:04:06
2ª Ana Millán Mattern, Eva María Mocholi 01:04:37 (Valencian)
3ª  Ludovica Midei, Fabrizia Midei 01:07:22

Mixed doubles

1 Frederic Legatzki, Marlena Michno 57:27
2 Yeray Mañas Hernández, Laura Perez Milan 58:41
3 Melanie Pirinoli, Cedric Pirinoli 58:55

Open male

1st Ciaran Parkinson (UK) 58:53 
2nd Mario Lauria (ARG) 59:11
3rd Luc Van Oberman (NER) 1h00:00 

Open female

1ª Ferrer Pastor, Monica (ESP) 01:05:27
2ª Mccleery, Kassandra (USA) 01:05:50
3ª Chumley, Maleah (USA) 01:05:54

Personally I liked the Bilbao event better because the BEC (Bilbao Exhibition Center) is a great place to organize and participate in a HYROX.

Even so, I insist that HYROX Iberia events are always of a high grade (with its small flaws) and that we will surely check in Malaga in two weeks and Barcelona in seven.

Of course with a chronicle of what happened on this website.

Map of HYROX Valencia March 2025