Average HYROX station splits show that running eats the largest share of your race (roughly 40-45 minutes of running across the eight 1km legs) while the eight functional stations and the roxzone transitions absorb the rest. A typical 90-minute Open finisher spends around 42 minutes running, 35 minutes on stations and 6-8 minutes in transition.

• Running accounts for the single biggest time block in almost every finish, usually 45-50% of the total.
• The sled push and sled pull are the slowest stations for most amateurs, often 4-6 minutes each when heavy.
• In THETA's coaching data, roxzone transitions quietly cost 6-8 minutes across a full race.

Where does the time actually go in a HYROX?

HYROX is eight 1km runs alternated with eight stations, so your total is the sum of running, station work and the roxzone transitions between them. For a 90-minute Open athlete, running is typically the largest component at around 40-45 minutes, station work sits near 33-37 minutes, and transitions add another 6-8 minutes. The exact split shifts with your strengths: strong runners compress the running block, strong lifters compress the sleds. Understanding your personal distribution is the fastest route to a targeted training plan.

Which stations cost the most time?

For most amateurs the two sleds dominate, because the Open men's sled push loads 152kg total and the pull 103kg, while women push 102kg and pull 78kg. Under that load a push or pull leg can take 4-6 minutes when technique or leg strength is limiting. Wall balls (100 reps to a 3m target for men, 75 reps to 2.7m for women) are the next big cost, frequently 4-5 minutes and prone to no-reps. SkiErg and rowing are more predictable at roughly 3:30-4:30 each when paced sensibly.

How do splits change as you get faster?

As athletes improve, the running block shrinks fastest because aerobic fitness responds strongly to consistent mileage. A sub-75 athlete may run the eight legs in 34-38 minutes and cross the roxzone in under 4 minutes total, whereas the stations compress more slowly because they are limited by strength and technique. This is why elite splits look proportionally more "station heavy". The running has been optimised down to near its floor. For beginners, the biggest available gains sit in running fitness, transition speed and clean reps.

How should you use your splits to train?

Record every split at your next race or simulation, then compare each against the typical bands above to find your two worst outliers. Train those specific limiters rather than your favourite stations: if your sleds are slow, prioritise heavy leg strength and sled-specific work; if your later runs collapse, build compromised-running volume. Retest with a full or part simulation every four to six weeks. This weakness-first approach consistently returns more time than adding generic conditioning, and it is what THETA BLUEPRINT automates: a 2-minute assessment turns your split outliers into weakness-first station selection, so the block attacks the segments bleeding the most minutes rather than spreading effort evenly across all eight.

How do elite and beginner splits compare side by side?

Comparing a sub-60 athlete with a 100-minute beginner shows exactly where the time separates, and it is rarely a single station. The elite athlete runs the eight legs in roughly 34-38 minutes versus 52-58 for the beginner, a gap of nearly 20 minutes built almost entirely from aerobic fitness and fade resistance. On the sleds the gap is smaller in absolute terms (perhaps two minutes per sled) because both athletes face the same fixed load. The roxzone difference is stark: elites lose under four minutes total while beginners routinely bleed eight to ten. This is why running and transitions, not the glamorous heavy stations, decide most amateur races.

Why the sled splits vary so wildly between athletes

Of all the station splits, the sleds show the biggest spread, and the reason is worth understanding because it changes how you read your own number. Two athletes of similar fitness can post sled times four minutes apart on the same fixed load, and the difference is rarely pure leg strength. Floor surface matters more than most people expect: some venues run on a grippier carpet that drags the sled, others on a slicker surface that lets it glide, and the same athlete can be a minute quicker or slower depending only on that. Technique compounds it. A low body angle, short choppy steps and continuous drive move the sled efficiently, while standing too upright and lurching in stop-start surges burns energy and time. This is why comparing your raw sled split to a stranger's is unreliable, and why your own splits across repeated simulations on the same floor tell you far more about whether your training is working.

The transition minutes are the ones you will regret

When athletes review their splits, they fixate on the stations because those are where the effort felt hardest, and they skim past the roxzone total because it is spread thinly across sixteen crossings. That is backwards. The six to eight minutes a 90-minute athlete loses in transition is often the single largest pool of recoverable time on the sheet, and unlike a slow sled it needs no fitness to fix. A minute shaved off your running kilometres asks for months of aerobic development; a minute shaved off transitions asks only that you stop walking out of the sled block and stop drinking at stations you had not planned to drink at. When you audit your splits, put the roxzone total at the top of the list, not the bottom, because it is the cheapest minute in the building and the one you are most likely to be leaking without noticing.

Common questions

What percentage of a HYROX is running?

Running is roughly 45-50% of a typical HYROX finish time, spread across eight 1km legs. It is the single largest time component for most athletes, which is why aerobic fitness is the strongest predictor of your overall result.

What is the slowest HYROX station for beginners?

For most beginners the sled push and sled pull are the slowest stations, often taking 4-6 minutes each under the Open loads of 152kg push and 103kg pull for men. Poor leg drive, grip fatigue and floor friction all inflate these splits.

How much time does the roxzone add?

The roxzone transitions add roughly 6-8 minutes to a typical Open race, since the clock runs continuously between runs and stations. Moving with purpose the moment you finish a station is one of the cheapest ways to cut several minutes without any change in fitness.

How do I find my own station splits?

Run a full or part HYROX simulation and time each run, station and transition separately. Comparing your splits to typical bands reveals your two weakest segments, which is where targeted training returns the most time.

Why do the later runs slow down so much?

The later runs slow because you arrive at them with pre-fatigued legs from the sleds, lunges and carries, so compromised running pace drifts 30-90 seconds per kilometre off your fresh pace. In THETA's coaching data the gap between run one and run seven is one of the clearest markers of whether an athlete has trained strength endurance.

Sources

• HYROX official race format and results (hyrox.com)
• THETA coaching data, 2024-2026
• Established principles of pacing, fatigue and aerobic conditioning