Hyrox running pace: 7 targets from first race to sub-60

Ask 10 Hyrox athletes what pace to run and you'll get 10 answers, most of them their 10k PB minus a bit. That number is usually 30 to 60 seconds per kilometre too quick.

Your Hyrox running pace comes off your target finish time. Fresh-legs speed barely enters it. You've got 8 runs of 1km, one before each of the 8 stations, and every one of them is run on legs that just finished a sled push, a set of lunges or 100 wall balls.

Here are 7 pace targets, the arithmetic behind each one, and the adjustment almost everyone needs to make on run 1.

How the 8km actually splits out

A Hyrox race is 8km of running broken into 8 separate efforts, with a station after each run and a RoxZone transition either side of it. Your finish time is running plus stations plus transitions.

Across large samples of results, running takes roughly 45% to 55% of total finish time. HyroxDataLab's analysis of more than 700,000 race results puts station work at about 25% and RoxZone transitions at about 10%, with running making up the rest. The same dataset puts the median Open men's finish around 95 minutes and Open women's around 105 minutes.

So the sum is simple. Take your target time, assume running is about half of it, divide by 8.

A 90-minute target gives 45 minutes of running. 45 minutes across 8km is 5:37 per kilometre.

One wrinkle: slower athletes spend proportionally longer at the stations and in the RoxZone, so their running share drops below 50%. The ranges below already account for that.

1. Sub-60 target: 3:30 to 3:45 per km

8km at 3:30 is 28 minutes of running, or 47% of a 60-minute race. At 3:45 it's 30 minutes, dead on half.

At this level the stations are fast enough that running is the differentiator, and RoxZone time is usually 4 to 5 minutes for the whole race. If you're chasing sub-60 and your transitions are over 6 minutes, fix that before you chase pace.

2. Sub-75 target: 4:20 to 4:40 per km

4:20 per km puts you at 34:40 for the running, 4:40 puts you at 37:20. Both sit in the 46% to 50% band.

This is the range where most strong age-group athletes land. It also tends to be about 45 seconds per km slower than a fresh 10k pace, which surprises people the first time they see it written down.

3. Sub-90 target: 5:15 to 5:40 per km

The most common serious target, and the one worth memorising: 5:30 per km gets you 44 minutes of running inside a 90-minute race.

If you can run a standalone 8km at 4:45 per km, sub-90 is realistic on running alone. Whether you get there depends on the sled push and wall balls, which is where sub-90 attempts usually die.

4. Sub-105 target: 6:10 to 6:35 per km

6:10 per km is 49:20 of running. 6:35 is 52:40. For a lot of first-time female Open athletes this is the honest target, and it sits right around the median Open women's finish.

At this pace the runs should feel conversational for the first 4km. If run 2 already feels like work, you've gone out too hard.

5. Sub-120 target: 7:00 to 7:30 per km

7:30 per km is exactly 60 minutes of running inside a 2-hour race. Clean, easy to hold in your head, and a sensible ceiling for a first race where finishing well matters more than the number.

Athletes in this band lose 9 to 12 minutes in the RoxZone across the race, according to the same dataset. That's more time than a 20-second-per-km pace improvement would ever give you.

6. First race, no time goal: 7:30 to 8:15 per km

If it's your first Hyrox, pick a pace you could hold for an hour on a treadmill while holding a conversation, then add 15 seconds. Run it. Don't look at anyone else.

The wall balls come after 8km of running and 7 prior stations. Every second you bank early gets handed back there, with interest.

7. The run-1 rule: 15 to 20 seconds slower than target

Whatever number you picked above, run the first kilometre 15 to 20 seconds per km slower than it.

The research here is mixed. A 2025 systematic review and network meta-analysis in Sports Medicine found no clear performance difference between self-selected and imposed pacing strategies overall, though prolonged slow starts did impair performance. There's also evidence that a fast start speeds oxygen uptake kinetics in supramaximal running, which is why short-course athletes often go out hard.

Hyrox runs 60 to 120 minutes with 8 compulsory interruptions, so that supramaximal finding doesn't transfer. The common race-day failure is a first kilometre run at 10k effort. The marathon pacing literature points the same way: positive splits get worse the less trained the athlete is.

Give yourself the first kilometre. Take the pace back to target on run 2.

What to do with the number

Pick one target. Write it on your hand if you have to. Then go and run compromised: 400m off the rower, 1km after 50 wall balls, 1km after a sled push. That's the only way to find out whether your pace survives contact with the race.

Our guide to training compromised running for Hyrox covers the session structure. If you're still deciding on race-day strategy more broadly, start with how to pace your first Hyrox.

FAQ

What's a good run pace for Hyrox?
For a sub-90 finish, 5:15 to 5:40 per km. For sub-75, 4:20 to 4:40. For a first race with no time goal, 7:30 to 8:15. Work back from your target finish time and assume running is about half of it.

What should my Hyrox run pace be if I've never raced?
Slower than you think. Take a pace you could hold for an hour while talking, add 15 seconds per km, and run that for the first 4 runs. You can always push from run 5.

What's a good Hyrox 1km pace?
There's no single answer, because it's set by your target. The median Open finisher is running somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30 per km. The elite field runs under 3:45.

Should my Hyrox pace match my 10k pace?
No. Expect 30 to 60 seconds per km slower than a fresh 10k, and more than that if your strength endurance is the weaker half of your profile.

Are there water stations at Hyrox?
Yes, and how you use them matters for pacing. We covered it in detail in are there water stations at Hyrox.

Before race day

Pace holds up when hydration does. If you're losing the back half of your runs, sodium is worth looking at before your training plan is. Electrolyte+ is £19.99 for 20 servings, and a serving before the race plus one in the hours after is a reasonable place to start.

Train with intent. Race the number you wrote down.