Core memory (n.) 1. A deeply emotional, vivid experience that shapes your personality, behaviors, and identity. These are foundational autobiographical moments that you carry with you throughout your life – a mental snapshot in time, a scrapbook page for the mind. 

Cue the Red Bull 400. 

Participant (and winner) Heber Cannon put it well: “Trauma bonding through a 400-meter sprint up a 37-degree incline. These are the good ol’ days. Red Bull 400 was everything I could have hoped it to be.” 

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ICYMI

Last week, 28 individuals from 20 countries competed in the “world’s toughest 400-meter race,” a 400-meter uphill trudge at the Red Bull 400 “Team Ascent” at the Okurayama Ski Jump hill in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 

The race has a storied history and has been held since 2011, with events held each year around the globe. 

This year, however, the “Team Ascent” debuted, featuring competitors Buttery Bros, Marston Sawyers, Heber Cannon, and Julian Marquez, as well as Demi Bagby, Chayse Byrd, Imke Salander, and Roberta “Bobe” Isabel, among many others.

The Details 

Instead of tackling the incline solo, participants were split into groups of four, with each group assigned a team captain who had previously competed in a Red Bull 400 to lead and outline the strategy. 

With less than 24 hours to prepare cohesively, the groups had to strategize for three distinct challenges, designed by ultrarunner Ruy Ueda, 2024/2025 HYROX World Champion Alex Roncevich, and parkour athlete Jason Paul. 

• First, they were tested with a standard race up the ski hill, each member collecting points based on their individual finish. 

• For the second challenge, the teams had to carry 40kg of weight up the hill, split however they chose. Like on the first test, they would be awarded points based on their individual finish. 

• The final challenge (which only the top three teams from the first two heats took on) had one athlete retesting the first challenge, another retesting the second, and the final two athletes ascending the course with their ankles tied together, elementary-school three-legged-race style. The four teammates completed this portion as a relay.

Overall winners of the event were Heber Cannon (USA), Imke Salander (Germany), Stien Edmund (Belgium), and Ryota Takano (Japan).

What They’re Saying 

We had the chance to speak with some of the participants before and after the race. A majority of them train in a gym, but remain open to big opportunities like this when they come along – their fitness allowing them to do so. 

• Many of them have been able to travel the world, stepping outside their comfort zones, testing themselves physically and mentally, making connections and core memories along the way. 

In 2023, HYROX athlete Roberta “Bobe” Isabel participated in “Exatlon,” a reality sports competition where two teams of contestants (athletes, Olympians, and sports professionals) face off on obstacle courses. Bobe reflects on the experience as having a significant impact on her.

• “When I said yes to the Exatlon Reality, it was an adventure that changed my whole life. It made me enter more into the wellness journey. I met a lot of professional athletes, and I understand the way they think, to get in the top of their discipline,” Bobe told Morning Chalk Up.

She went on to share that while training within a gym’s walls is necessary, “doing something extra, outside, it gives you a lot of life, making teams, meeting new people, and putting some challenges so you can have something to look up to and get better every day and inspire others on the way,” Bobe said.

Fitness influencer Chayse Byrd shared that she has always struggled with depression, and training has been an outlet for her to manage it. 

• “It gives me structure, purpose, and something to work toward every day. Fitness has genuinely played a huge role in why my life feels as full as it does,” Byrd told Morning Chalk Up.

Her training has allowed her to sign up for races, saying “yes” to more, “building connections while also testing oneself mentally and physically. It also helps prove that what I’m doing in the gym every day is actually benefiting me. It’s cool to apply your fitness to real experiences and challenges,” Byrd said.

Demi Bagby, a fitness influencer (with 18 million followers across Instagram and TikTok), race car driver, and multi-sport athlete, shared that her fitness and training have led to a fuller life in so many ways. 

She shares that her daily gym sessions are necessary, but encourages people to “take it one step further and go try to run a marathon, try to compete in HYROX, try something new for yourself.” 

• “For me,” Bagby said, “I love having something to work towards. I love training with a purpose because … it can feel a little bit mundane, but if I know at this period in time I’m training for something, for this one moment, it makes it more fun because the routine changes a lot.” 

It’s her opinion that when we’re training for something specific – a particular event or challenge – we’re testing both the body and the mind. 

• “I love a mental challenge with a physical challenge. Sometimes, when you’re going to the gym just to work out, it’s not enough. So for me it’s so much more stimulating to go to the gym with a purpose, knowing I’m training for a specific project, whatever it is, because then the mental challenge kicks in, and I’m thinking, ‘ok, I’m preparing my body for this, can my mind help me get one step further?’” Bagby said. 

Bagby and Byrd reflect on some of their most epic memories, events, and challenges that will forever hold a special place in their mind.

For Byrd, one of these is last year’s Red Bull 400, held in Michigan. 

• “It was my first time ever doing it, and it was one of the most insane things I’ve ever done. It was unforgettable. It’s one of those experiences that instantly becomes a core memory because of how intense it was,” Byrd said. 

For Bagby, it was the Red Bull Ibiza Royale in Spain last year. 

• “It was one of the coolest events because I was able to create a few of the obstacles that the athletes ran, I was able to run the course myself, and I was also able to host the whole event. For me, it was all the things I love – I got to be creative, I got to be physical, I got to host and be out there in the world and encourage other athletes,” Bagby said. 

The Big Picture

The Red Bull 400 tour continues around the world throughout the summer. Next up are Courchevel, France (July 2026), and Liberec, Czech Republic (August 8), with Bischofshofen, Austria, and Planica, Slovenia, all confirmed for later in 2026. 

Stay tuned for our coverage of other Red Bull events as well – it’s going to be a busy summer, and we want you to be part of it!