Do not review a HYROX run split on its own. Pair it with the station before it, keep Roxzone time separate and compare the pattern across all eight runs. The aim is to find the next useful training decision—not to explain every slow kilometre after the event.
A slower later split can reflect several things: an aggressive opening pace, the cost of the preceding station, a long transition, accumulated fatigue or normal course variation. The result sheet shows where time changed. It does not prove why.
Start with the current race structure
HYROX’s official race description states that the format alternates a 1 km run and one functional workout station eight times. Division loads and movement standards can change, so check the rulebook for your event instead of using an old social-media graphic.
Copy the official result into three columns: run split, preceding station and Roxzone or transition time. Keep penalties in a separate note. This prevents a slow movement through the Roxzone from being treated as a pure running problem.
What the new pacing study found
A 2026 study tested 24 male HYROX PRO athletes in the laboratory and then observed them during the official 2025 Madrid event. Their average race time was 69 minutes 58 seconds.
Average running speed fell from 16.13 km/h on run one to 13.58 km/h on run eight. Across the eight runs and Roxzone, mean intensity was about 84% of each athlete’s second ventilatory-threshold speed and 76% of maximal aerobic speed. The authors concluded that running was submaximal relative to those laboratory markers and declined progressively across the race.
This is useful evidence that even fast PRO men did not hold one flat speed. It is not a target for another athlete. The sample was small, male, high-performing and drawn from one event. The analysis also counted 8.70 km when the eight run segments and Roxzone were combined, so race movement outside the timed 1 km segments matters to the whole result.
Running matters, but the evidence is still young
A 2025 simulation study followed 11 recreational HYROX athletes, including three women. They spent a median 51.2 minutes running and 32.8 minutes on stations. Faster total and running times were associated with higher measured aerobic capacity, but the small observational sample cannot show that one training change caused a faster result.
A larger seven-season analysis of PRO and Elite results also found that running accounted for about half of total race time and was strongly associated with overall performance. Station performance still contributed and changed the rankings. The coaching lesson is to review both parts rather than call HYROX only a running race or only a strength event.
Use the station-to-run review
Build eight pairs. Run one has no preceding station, so use it as an opening reference rather than a perfect baseline. Then pair:
- SkiErg → run two
- Sled push → run three
- Sled pull → run four
- Burpee broad jumps → run five
- Row → run six
- Farmers carry → run seven
- Sandbag lunges → run eight
Wall balls come after the final run, so review them as the finish rather than as a cause of a later run. For each pair, record the run split, station time, Roxzone time and one short observation about control. Avoid a long story.
Ask four questions in order
- Was the opening pace realistic? Compare run one with runs two to four. A large early change may justify testing a calmer opening, but it does not prove that pace alone caused it.
- Did one station have a repeated cost? Compare the run after that station across race simulations or later events. One race gives a clue; repeated observations give a stronger basis for action.
- Was the lost time in the run or around it? Check Roxzone and transition data before changing the running programme.
- Did the whole pattern fade? A broad decline across several runs can point to pacing or aerobic durability, but station execution and fuelling context still need review.
Do not compare raw splits across venues as if the environment were identical. Turns, surface, congestion and how the timing points are placed can affect the observed split. Your most useful comparison is usually within the same event, then across similar sessions with a clearly recorded set-up.
Choose one training test
- Opening control: repeat a combined session with a capped first running effort and compare later runs.
- Post-station recovery: practise a selected station followed by a controlled run. Keep the station dose and run distance stable.
- Transition: rehearse equipment exit, movement to the run and the first minute without turning it into a maximal workout.
- Running fitness: keep specific sessions in proportion and continue the easy, threshold and strength work that builds the wider base.
Change one main variable. If you alter the station load, running pace, rest and total volume together, the next result cannot tell you which choice helped.
A simple review sheet
Use one row for each station-to-run pair and these columns: station time, Roxzone time, next run split, change from your early-run median, observation and next test. Finish with one sentence: ‘The next session will test…’
Tempo’s guide to combining strength and cardio explains how to protect the main goal in the week. The strength guide for runners covers the base outside event simulations.
If you want help turning your splits into a proportionate training plan, see HYROX personal training in Fitzrovia or request a free consultation. Bring the official result and the context you can verify; do not fill gaps with guessed numbers.