The final elite race of the weekend was the Male Pro Doubles. What an epic contest it turned out to be.
James Kelly was back on the track in front of the Aussie crowd. So was the champion from yesterday, Tim Wenisch. Jake Williamson and the Serbian / French team set out in front to set a fast pace out of the gates.
The stroke race was very high on the ski ergs, with the athletes holding paces in the low 01:30s.
In the future of the doubles HYROX competitions we may start to see more specializations between the teams. This would allow certain teams to divide up the workout in accordance with strengths and weaknesses.
Race Tip: Before the race starts, work out where you and your partner will be strong and will be weak and plan accordingly. If one of you is a powerhouse on the sled push, or has the grip strength of a primate, then do more work on that station. Let the other athlete do more where they are strong. You don’t have to divide each workout station exactly 50/50.
Onto the sled push and Jake Deardon and James Kelly looked strong and smooth. Charlie Botterill and Ollie Russell worked well together as well. Ollie had travelled over to Melbourne after the London event, so he hadn’t had much time to shake off the jetlag.
Jake Williamson was paired with Alen Ploj. In his last doubles race with Hunter McIntyre, the Brit was ill, yet still managed to almost break the WR.
On the sled pull a lot of the athletes opted to drop the rope between reps. This was different to a lot of the female athletes. Sean and Ollie received a yellow card on the sled pull but emerged second from the sled pull. Jake and Alen were highly efficient with their work rate.
Race Tip: Find what works for you. HYROX is made for every body, so test what works best for yours before the race starts. Experiment with different body positions on the sled push, whether its best for you to drop the rope between reps on the sled pull, what hand position is best for you with the kettlebells etc. Experiment in the gym, perform on the day.
Jake Williamson and Alen Ploj went out in from on the next run, followed by Charlie Botterill and Ollie Russell. The former were first onto the burpee broad jumps.
Race Tip: Always make sure to jump from parallel feet on the burpees! It’s worth slowing the pace down to ensure good form if you need to.
Nicic and Bernier received a 15 second penalty on the burpees.
By the time the athletes got around to the rowing, Kelly and Deardon were out in front. Sean Noble was dealt a yellow card for not putting his feet into the straps before grabbing the handle. Make sure you avoid this in your HYROX races.
Kelly and Dearden were first to the farmers carry station, then smashed through the sandbag lunges.
Yellow cards were dished out to both James Kelly and Ollie Fricker.
There was also a big mistake from the team of Sean Noble and Ollie Fricker as continued running into another lap by mistake.
Onto the wall balls and the competition was still fierce.
Botterill and Russell, Maes and Franssens, McConnell and Eisenlauer are the three teams that qualify for the World Championships.
Final Leaderboard
| Rank | Team / Athletes | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Dearden & James Kelly | 49:52 |
| 2 | Charlie Botterill & Ollie Russell | 50:20 |
| 3 | Jake Williamson & Alen Ploj | 50:33 |
| 4 | Pieter Maes & Tom Franssens | 50:58 |
| 5 | Michael Bartsch & Tim Wenisch | 51:10 |
| 6 | Jeremy McConnell & Fabian Eisenlauer | 51:12 |
| 7 | Beau Wills & Eugenio Bianchi | 51:12 |
| 8 | Oli Fricker & Sean Noble | 51:29 |
| 9 | Marko Nicic & Alexis Bernier | 51:30 |
| 10 | Jarrett Newby & Hayden Warner | 52:01 |
| 11 | Ben Sutherland & Harry Sutherland | 52:20 |
| 12 | Luke Ennis & Connor Higgins | 52:30 |
| 13 | Ciaran Parkinson & Tony Revell | 53:13 |
| 14 | Pablo Sanchez Santos & Pablo Valverde Reyes | 53:42 |
