The current HYROX Elite 15 qualifying system rewards people with fast times, even though no two courses are alike.  Athletes have already figured out which courses are “fast” and which courses are “slow,” as certain venues have led to massive PRs throughout the entire field.  If you’re a high-level athlete hoping to make your way into the Elite 15, it’s not even debatable anymore:  you must find a way to race in Berlin.

Berlin is the most ideal HYROX venue to run a fast time for several reasons.  Athletes are only required to run a single lap of the 1000m run course, which means less weaving in-and-out of traffic from slower runners that occurs on multi-lap courses.  Workout equipment is in a straight line from Zone 1-8, which cuts down on transition times.  The venue is outside, so race-time temperatures (about 55o F) are much more favorable than indoor venues.  Lastly, the competition is great, as a lot of high-level athletes show up knowing it’s going to be a fast course.

 

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SO HOW FAST WAS BERLIN?

 

Last article, I mentioned that there were 139 men who have run sub-60 minutes and 62 women who have run sub-65 minutes.  After Berlin, there were 13 new men and 5 new women who added their name to that list.  This 1 race out of over 200 Pro races in HYROX history accounted for about 8% of all sub-60 men and sub-65 women ever.  This is not a coincidence.

 

Many of these athletes have completed 10+ HYROX races, so it’s not like they’re all experiencing beginner’s gains.  It’s virtually impossible to have two-thirds of athletes set a PR in the same race, especially when they’re presumably not peaking yet since it’s still a month away from HYROX World Championship.

 

Men

 

Take a look at the before-and-after results for the top-25 men in Berlin.  Nearly every single athlete shattered their old PR from before the race.  Only 3 of the top-20 men who raced this past weekend in Berlin didn’t set a PR, and those 3 athletes were only 9-66 seconds away from setting a new lifetime PR.  On average, the top-50 men ran 2:22 faster (2.3% faster) than their previous fastest HYROX time ever.

 

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A ridiculous 36 men who finished in the top-50 set a PR in Berlin.  Strangely, 9 of the 14 men in the top-50 who didn’t set a PR in Berlin had previously raced in a Major this season.  It is likely that they had prioritized peaking for their Major race rather than Berlin.  Major course layouts are also flawed, which I’ll discuss later.

Women

 

The women’s field was basically the same, with the average woman in the top-50 heading home with a new PR that was 2:16 faster than her previous best time.  On average, women who finished in the top-50 in Berlin ran 2.9% faster than they ever head prior to this race.

 

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Surprisingly, only 2 women in the top-10 ran at least 1:00 faster than their old PR, while 7 men in the top-10 ran at least 2:00 faster than their old PR.  However, many women who finished 11th-25th shattered their pre-Berlin PR by 3-6 minutes.  Just like the men’s field, nearly every woman in the top-25 who didn’t set a PR in Berlin had previously raced in a HYROX Major since last season, suggesting Major courses are also suspiciously fast compared to standard weekend events.

 

WHICH OTHER VENUES ARE FAST?

 

Berlin can’t be the only course that’s suspiciously fast, right?

 

All Courses, Including Those with a Grid Layout

 

Of the 100 fastest Pro times ever by run by their gender, 17 men and 8 women have done so in Berlin over the past 2 seasons.  That’s more than Glasgow, Amsterdam, or anywhere where a HYROX Major has been held.  Think about that for a second.  At every major, the 30 fastest HYROX athletes on the planet (15 men and 15 women) are in the same race, yet they still haven’t been able to run as fast as less-qualified athletes at a standard weekend  event in Berlin.

Only Courses without a Grid Layout

 

Major courses are also flawed, as they use a grid layout that is almost always significantly faster than standard venues with 2-4 laps per 1000m run and lots of traffic from other racers.  Let’s see how the table above changes after removing all courses with a grid layout.

 

So you’re telling me that 29 of the 100 fastest men’s times and 14 of the 100 fastest women’s times ever run on a non-grid course happened to be in Berlin?  Only 2 other venues have had more than 6 of the 100 fastest men’s or women’s times.  Berlin is the fastest venue in HYROX history and it’s not even close.  You’re basically guaranteed to set a PR in Berlin.

HYROX NEEDS TO CHANGE THE ELITE 15 QUALIFYING SYSTEM

 

HYROX is more competitive than ever, and that trend is only going to continue.  With events selling out almost instantly, successfully registering for a fast venue like Berlin is a game-changer that will affect the ability for new athletes to break into the Elite 15 for the next 365 days.

 

This past season’s Elite 15 qualifying system was an improvement, as it ranked athletes based on their 2 fastest times rather than a single fast time, like in previous seasons.  However, anyone who ran in Berlin this past weekend has a huge advantage next season if the Elite 15 qualifying system remains the same.  As the data shows, it’s virtually impossible to find a venue faster than Berlin.  Athletes who ran in Berlin only need to run 1 other reasonably-fast race for a chance at making the Elite 15, while most fringe athletes will need to run incredibly fast 2 times at less-favorable venues.

 

An easy solution would be to remove time as the metric that determines who is and who isn’t allowed to race in the Elite 15.  The only way that comparing times is accurate is if all courses are standardized, which isn’t something we’ve seen yet but are hoping may be introduced next season.

 

Another option would be for there to be an Elite 15 qualification series.  Any athlete who has run faster than __ is allowed to race in the series, and the __ fastest athletes on that day are allowed to race in the next Major.  Since all athletes would race head-to-head on that day, the course layout and times from that series race wouldn’t matter.  Finishing place by beating your opponents head-to-head would be the only thing that matters to advance to the next Major.

 

We’ve discussed this topic countless times on Race Brain.  The best racer should be determined by allowing them to race head-to-head, not by who time-trialed the fastest at venues with inconsistent course layouts.  Until the system changes, HYROX will continue to reward athletes lucky enough to win the golden ticket by signing up for Berlin.