HYROX Auckland 2026
What an amazing experience! I won't forget my first race for a long time. When you are going from station to station around the course it was sensory overload for me due to the crowd and DJ blasting at what seemed to be 1000 dB! I think it definitely affected me as I went around the course as I had never had any experience of it in my life. You really need to put mental blinkers on, and this is what I forgot to do!
Now for the station self reviews...
Runs: This is where I really need improvement on unfamiliar and lumpy asphalt! I was pushing slower than I wanted to go. Not sure if it is because I don't have a belt, but I tend to move around in my wheelchair seat when I go over rough ground fast.
Ski-Erg: Everything including my time was as expected.
Sled Push: Cooked myself on this one! I kept on pausing when I should have just kept on pushing. Need to get my technique better.
Sled Pull: I did better than I thought, but like the push, I need to get faster and my technique better.
Burpees: I think I performed as well as I could. A real shame that the photographers didn't get me doing an actual dip!
Rowing: Slightly slower than expected. I think it was because I was starting to get quite tired at this time.
Farmer's Carry. Bit of a farce, as I should have lain them on my lap one on top of another!
Sandbag Lunge: Could have gone faster as once I realized I could hoist the sandbag up and over my lap in one go, I went a lot faster. This is one of the best ones that Mary took as I couldn't find anything from the photographer.
Wall Balls: Could have gone slightly faster on the touches, but this will improve over time.
Finish: Can’t remember much of it, but I am so glad such brilliant pictures were taken!
Roxzone (athlete only area between the stations and the Run In/Out arch): I don't know if I was so overwhelmed by the environment, but I was slower than I would have liked. Now I know what it is like, I can try and get a bit faster for next time. This is the area where I thought I could make up more time. I seemed to be going slightly slower than the evening before during the Adaptive Walkthrough.
When the final results for the men came in, I was so happy with my result. 4th in the Seated With Hip Function classification and 8th out of all the male adaptive athletes who were competing.
Giant thanks has to go to my coach Jodie. She is the one who kept me sane throughout the whole morning and saw me to the finish successfully!
One thing that has absolutely floored me is the video profile HYROX Australia & NZ did of me! As of today (11 Feb) it has surpassed 60,000 views combined on Instagram and Facebook! I never thought the video would go totally viral, but it did.
Overall, I had a fantastic time and met some really amazing adaptive athletes who are now good friends!
I am sure to be back next year!