Over the weekend at HYROX Perth, we saw the debut of new fast lane "police" and signage requiring 4 min/km pacing or faster. This is FAST.

Naturally, we got curious to see how much of the HYROX population meets this requirement and crunched some numbers.

We looked at how many solo athletes and doubles teams maintain a 4 min /km pace or faster for the entire race. We calculated run pace for the entire race by dividing total run + roxzone by 8.7. The roxzone is typically 0.7 km in addition to the 8 km run.

Why not just calculate total run / 8?

Well, course to course, there can be variation on the venue setup. Elite HYROX coaches, athletes, and sources continue to share that while not all runs will be exactly 1 km, we can trust that the full HYROX run + roxzone will always be 8.7 km.

The result? Only 1% of HYROX athletes hold this pace for the entire race.

Public reaction has been mostly positive, though some think it goes a bit too far. My best guess is HYROX set the bar so high because slower athletes will always use the lane, but an extreme threshold keeps most violators out or at least dampers temptation.

Overall, I this is great progress and another clear sign HYROX listens to feedback. Without any definition of "fast", the lane markers were useless in the past and didn't function as intended. The 4 min / km threshold can always be adjusted. At least, now there is clarity.

But the real question: does ego push people to blow up early just to prove they belong in the “fast” lane?