Are there water stations at Hyrox? What the rulebook says

Yes. There's water on course at every Hyrox race, and the rulebook is specific about when you get it.

Section 10.5 of the HYROX Singles Rulebook for the 26/27 season says water "will be made available at least once during, before or after each pass through the Roxzone." You pass through the Roxzone 8 times, once for every station. So you get water at each of those 8 passes, spread across 8km of running and 8 workout stations, each with its own fixed weight and distance.

That's the short answer. The useful part is what the rule leaves out, and where the penalties sit.

What's actually in the cup

Paper cups. The rulebook confirms it in passing, in the littering rule under 10.4: "all paper cups and used gel packaging must be discarded in the bins provided."

Water is guaranteed. Anything else is a maybe. Section 10.5 adds that "a sports drink or other hydration product may also be available," and that "may" is doing a lot of work. It changes from event to event, depending on who's sponsoring. If your race plan relies on a specific electrolyte drink waiting for you at station 4, make a different plan.

The rulebook doesn't give a cup size anywhere. Assume it's small. A cup you can drink while walking holds less than you'd like.

Are there water stations at Hyrox on the run course?

Every mention of water and aid stations in the rulebook sits in the Roxzone, so all your drinking happens in transition. That's the same 30-60 seconds you're using to walk to the next station and get your breathing back.

That matters more than it sounds. Roxzone time is race time, and it's already where most mid-pack athletes leak minutes without noticing. Our Hyrox roxzone strategy guide shows where that time goes.

What you're allowed to carry

Section 10.5 again: "Any racers desiring nutrition must carry it on their person from the start of the race."

Hydration packs are on the permitted items list in 10.1, alongside knee sleeves, gloves, a weightlifting belt and wristbands. Everything else is out. The rulebook is blunt about it: "Any item not explicitly listed as permitted is, by default, prohibited."

Then there's the catch in the note under that list. Whatever you carry, you carry the whole way: "If a racer chooses to use, wear or carry any of the above items, they must do so from the start to the finish of their race. These items may not be handed to or received from anyone else at any point."

So you can't leave a flask with your mate at the sled and collect it on lap 6.

The two penalties people get wrong

Taking a drink from a spectator. Section 10.5 says racers "are not permitted to accept any beverage or nutritional product from anyone except the aid stations during their event." That counts as outside assistance, code 19 on the penalty table, 2 minutes per infringement. Your partner at the barrier holding your bottle costs you 2 minutes.

Tipping water over your head. This one bites in hot venues. Station rule 7.1, point 9: "the fluids provided at aid stations are for drinking only. They are not to be used for active cooling [e.g. pouring water over the head or body]." Penalty code 23, rapid cooling, another 2 minutes.

Littering sits on the same table at the same price. Cup goes in the bin.

How much you should actually drink

The rulebook tells you when you can drink. How much depends on your body.

The ACSM position stand on exercise and fluid replacement puts the practical threshold at 2% of body mass lost as water, the point where performance starts to drop off measurably. For a 75kg athlete that's 1.5kg. A hard race in a warm venue gets you there.

Sodium is the messier one. A 2017 review in Sports Medicine pooled data from 506 athletes and found sweat sodium concentrations ranging from 13 to 105 mmol/L. That's an eightfold spread between people. Generic hydration advice can't cover a gap that wide, so the number worth having is your own.

You can get it in one session with a set of bathroom scales. We've written up the method for calculating your sweat rate.

Then work backwards. If you lose 1.2 litres an hour and you're racing for 90 minutes, 8 small paper cups of plain water won't cover the fluid, and they're nowhere near covering the sodium.

A race-day plan that fits the rules

Front-load it. Get your fluid and sodium in before the start, while you're standing still and can drink properly. It's the one part of the day where drinking is easy.

Take the cups. All 8 if you want them. It costs a couple of seconds, and it's water you didn't have to carry for 8km.

Bring your own sodium if you sweat salty. A concentrated electrolyte serving 30-60 minutes before the gun does more for you than sipping plain water in the roxzone. Interval's Electrolyte+ is one option at £19.99 for 20 sticks, and any properly dosed electrolyte will do the job. Check the sodium per serving on the label first, because plenty of them are underdosed.

Assume the sports drink won't be there. It might be. Plan as though it won't.

For the full picture on what to drink before, during and after, we've covered Hyrox hydration strategy in more detail.

Race day rewards the athlete who sorted this out in training. Work out your sweat rate, get your sodium dialled in and treat the 8 cups as a top-up.