A New Arena: Cole Sager Takes on HYROX
Cole Sager recently asked himself, “Am I as well-rounded as a CrossFit athlete (claims) to be?”
- This idea prompted him to reflect and compare himself to his peers training in the hybrid space, running sub-three-hour marathons, which Sager can’t do.
With HYROX as a new way to measure fitness, Sager felt inspired to try it. He approached it, wondering if he could perform at a high level in other areas of fitness, just as he can in CrossFit.
- Over the last few years, a growing number of professional and everyday CrossFit athletes have been testing themselves with HYROX, some of them returning again and again to beat their previous times.
In November, with multiple races across the country, social media was packed with finisher photos of athletes. Olivia Kerstetter and Chris Ibarra competed in Dallas, as well as Dillon and Arielle Loewen.
Sager was one of them as he headed to Chicago, Illinois, for his first race.
In a recent two-part YouTube episode, Sager shares his behind-the-scenes moments and his mindset heading into the competition alongside his CompTrain crew, Bryce Chambers, and Jamison Price.
They collectively agree that they all want a sub-60-minute finish.
- For comparison, professional racers Hunter McIntyre and Jake Williamson competed at the Dallas HYROX and finished in 48:50 in the Pro Men’s Doubles division. And in the Elite 15 division at the World Championships in June, Tim Wenisch won in 53:53.
Chambers and Price took on the Pro Doubles on Friday night, finishing in 1:02, with Sager running solo on Sunday.
Part two of Sager’s episode will drop soon, as he shares his results and his whole race experience. But as a teaser, Sager shared his feelings with us, regarding the competition as a whole:
- “I have a lot more respect for HYROX after racing. It was far more community-focused than I realized. They (both HYROX and people competing) were very encouraging and uplifting, and it was easy to connect with the community…it was very cool.”
