ESN Hybrid Games vs HYROX : distance, stations, prix et difficulté comparés (2026-27)

The ESN Hybrid Games - R.I.S.E. was a hybrid fitness race presented by ESN (Elite Sports Nutrition) at Forders Gym near Birmingham, UK, on 29 March 2025. The organisers billed it as ESN's first fitness race in the UK. R.I.S.E. stands for Resilience, Intensity, Strength and Endurance.

The race featured seven stations, including running, rowing and farmers carries. It offered several divisions: a Pro Athlete division with heavier weights for experienced fitness racers, and an Athlete division with lighter weights for those newer to the sport. Participants raced alongside a group of invited elite hybrid athletes, with cash prizes from a stated £10,000 prize pool across divisions. No later editions or official website for the event could be found, so race.fitness lists it as a single past event rather than a running series.

HYROX is an indoor fitness race in which athletes run 1 km and then complete one functional workout station, repeated eight times. The stations and their order are fixed: 1,000 m SkiErg, 50 m sled push, 50 m sled pull, 80 m burpee broad jumps, 1,000 m row, 200 m farmers carry, 100 m sandbag lunges and 100 wall balls. Because the format is the same worldwide, results feed global leaderboards and a World Championship at the end of each season.

HYROX launched in Hamburg, Germany, in 2017 and is run by HYROX World GmbH. It was created by race organiser Christian Toetzke with Olympic medallist Moritz Fürste and marketing expert Michael Trautmann. Races take place in large exhibition halls, with start waves throughout the day. Divisions include Open, Pro (heavier weights), Doubles and a four-person Relay. There is no time cap and no qualification needed for age-group entry, so HYROX suits first-time racers as well as competitive hybrid athletes.