Why Are So Many Gay Men Suddenly Obsessed With HYROX?
HYROX, the fitness race that pairs 8km of running with eight functional workout stations, is open to everyone and bills itself as “a sport for everybody.” But queer men adopted it fast, and the sport has leaned into that rather than played it down.
What HYROX actually is
The format is simple to follow and brutal to finish. You run 1km, hit a station like a ski erg, sled push or wall balls, then run again, eight times over. It’s identical at every event worldwide, so your time in one city means something in the next.
The growth has been steep. The first race had 650 people. By 2023, around 175,000 competitors took part across 65 events, according to figures reported by Forbes.
Why it clicks with queer guys
Noticed your group chat filling up with sled-push videos? There’s a reason. A HYROX event runs all day inside a packed arena, with music, an announcer and crowds cheering finishers.
It feels closer to a festival than a road race. The doubles format, where you split the work with a partner, has become a low-pressure way for couples and friends to enter together.
The training builds the lean, athletic shape a lot of gay men are already chasing. And it photographs well, which keeps the whole thing circulating on Instagram.
HYROX has an out gay world-record holder
It also has a face. Jake Williamson, 27, a Stonewall ambassador and former semi-pro footballer, set a world record in the men’s doubles in Berlin in 2025, finishing in 47 minutes 57 seconds alongside Fabian Eisenlauer.
He is currently the only openly gay man in HYROX’s elite tier, which he called “both an honour and a responsibility.” He has said he wants to be “a role model for this community,” and in a sport this young, that kind of visibility lands early, per PinkNews.
So, is it a gay thing? Not by the rulebook. But a race this social, this welcoming and this good on camera was always going to pull a crowd, and we’re not surprised the gays got there first.
