IS HYROX WORTH ALL THE HYPE?

Move over, CrossFit. A new (and friendlier) brand of functional-fitness competition is currently sweeping the nation.

- BRETT WILLIAMS

THE SUN BEATS DOWN, stadium jams from Skrillex and Imagine Dragons blare, and hordes of scantily clad people throng around me-stretching instead of dancing. It's the first day of June, and I'm at Manhattan's Pier 76 along with more than 5,300 other competitors for Hyrox, the racing phenomenon and new new thing in fitness. I'm working up a sweat just weaving through the masses to reach the warmup corral inside a giant hangar next to the Hudson River before my 11:30 heat time.

We've signed up to tackle a series of eight movement stations connected by one-kilometer runs, a competitive mashupofa CrossFit event, a half marathon, and an urban obstacle race. There's a mixture of cardio work (SkiErgs and rowers), strength challenges (sled pushes and pulls and farmer's carries), a CrossFit staple (wall balls), and flat-out punishments (walking sandbag lunges and burpee broad jumps). The exercises are meant to be approachable for all gymgoers, but they're still tough. The average Hyrox finishing time is about an hour and a half. I'm aiming to be faster.

By 11:20, my heat of more than 20 guys is raring to go. I'm running in the open individual division, so it's all men. (You can also race with a partner or four-person relay team and mix women and men together.) There are the lean, muscular guys you'd expect at any masochistic fitness event, but there are other bods, too, guys sporting knee braces and bellies. The clock hits zero, and it's a 1K sprint to the first station, the SkiErg. I blast through 1,000 meters but am feeling fried already.

HYROX STARTED