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June 30, 2026

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Race first, holiday after: Why Hyrox fans are turning competitions into vacations

From Bangkok to Incheon, Hyrox participants are building entire trips around race weekends – and collecting cities along the way.

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For many holidaymakers, a weekend in Bangkok means shopping, Thai street food, nightlife and perhaps a recovery massage the next day.

But when 90 members of Hong Kong’s DOP Training Club visited the Thai capital in March, they were there for an entirely different reason: Hyrox.

The fitness club, co-founded by personal trainer Dan Yeung, had previously organised similar trips to Taipei, Kobe and Beijing, documenting them on its YouTube channel.

Bangkok drew the biggest turnout. Yeung told CNA Luxury that about 70 per cent of the club’s members joined the trip, forcing him to close the gym for the week.

The group travelled to Bangkok not only to compete in the global fitness race, but also to celebrate together afterwards. Some stayed on for a few extra days, while others headed home shortly after the event. About 30 to 40 members gathered for a group dinner once the race was done.

Members of Hong Kong’s DOP Training Club in Bangkok for Hyrox. The fitness community brought about 90 members to the Thai capital, turning the race weekend into a group “race-cation” built around competition, travel and post-race celebration. (Photo: Dan Yeung)

Not long ago, trips were planned around shopping, then food, then wellness retreats. Now, a growing number of travellers are building holidays around sled pushes, burpees and laps around convention centres and stadiums – before celebrating with massages, sightseeing and local delicacies.

As Hyrox expands across the region, participants are increasingly building entire holidays around race weekends, turning competitions into what some now call “race-cations”.

Bangkok hosted one of the region’s largest Hyrox races to date, with more than 17,500 registered athletes taking part in the three-day event in March. Singapore followed in April, with more than 14,000 competitors at the Singapore National Stadium for its first three-day Hyrox edition.

With newer stops such as Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur joining the regional calendar, Hyrox – and the race-cation culture around it – shows little sign of slowing.

For some, these trips are a way to reconnect with friends and family. For others, they offer a chance to explore new cities with like-minded training partners. Increasingly, race day is just one part of a broader travel experience.

THE RACE IS THE REASON

For Alan Cheung, travelling for Hyrox is not just about the race floor. Overseas events have also become a way to reconnect with friends and relatives abroad. (Photo: Alan Cheung)

For Singapore-based orthopaedic surgeon Alan Cheung, travelling for Hyrox has become second nature.

So far, he has completed nine Hyrox races, six of them overseas, in cities including Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Taipei and Bangkok.

“I love travelling and fitness, and it’s a great opportunity to combine the two,” he said.

The events have also given him a new way to reconnect with friends and relatives abroad. “I also have friends and relatives who live abroad and are into fitness whom I race with, and it’s a unique way to meet and reconnect with them.”

Rather than travelling alone, Cheung often competes with race partners from Singapore and Australia. “It’s more fun to travel with them for a shared experience,” he explained. “Racing doubles is easier and more enjoyable, because you get a chance to recover, work as a team and support each other.”

The appeal extends beyond the race itself. With many Hyrox events held in major cities, participants can easily build sightseeing, dining and social activities into the itinerary.

Angus Tan and his partner after a Hyrox race. For Tan, a race-cation gives purpose to a trip – race first, then enjoy the rest of the holiday as a reward. (Photo: Angus Tan)

“I usually combine the trip with visiting friends and family,” Cheung added. “Most races are held in big cities so there is always a chance to explore and enjoy the sights.” In Taipei, for instance, he visited Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

For others, the race becomes the anchor around which an entire holiday is built. Singapore-based participant Angus Tan, a fitness influencer with more than 10,000 followers, travelled to Jakarta with his partner for his first overseas Hyrox event.

The destination appealed for practical reasons: A short flight from Singapore, with minimal annual leave required. But the race quickly became the centrepiece of a wider travel itinerary.

What excites him most is the sense of purpose the race gives the trip. “There’s something really satisfying about earning your holiday,” he explained. “You show up, give everything on the race floor, and then the rest of the trip becomes your reward.”

MORE THAN A COMPETITION

While some participants travel with training partners, others are turning Hyrox into a family affair. For Amelia Yeo, a marketing head, her first Hyrox race in Incheon, South Korea, in May became the catalyst for a long-overdue family holiday.

Amelia Yeo during a Hyrox race. Her first Hyrox event in Incheon, South Korea, became the catalyst for a family holiday – their first together in almost eight years. (Photo: Amelia Yeo)

Her parents, brother and his girlfriend travelled with her to support her debut in the Women’s Open Solo category. “My family had been loosely planning a holiday together since mid-last year and hadn’t yet settled on a destination,” she said. “When I signed up for the race, it made sense.”

The trip carried extra significance because it was the family’s first holiday together in almost eight years. Friends had told Yeo how meaningful it would be to have loved ones supporting her on race day, but she only fully understood what they meant when she arrived at the venue.

“When you’re a bunch of nerves arriving at an already busy convention hall trying to navigate check-in, stampedes of people, the race layout, and trying to get a warm-up in ahead of arriving at the start tunnel all at once, familiar faces make the whole experience more grounding,” she said.

Once the race began, that support became even more important. “When I couldn’t spot them, I could hear them – calling out my pace, urging me to keep going.”

One moment still makes her laugh. “My brother in particular knows exactly how to get me out of my own head, so when he yelled ‘it looks light on you!’ at the farmer’s carry station – it didn’t – it really made me laugh.”

At Hyrox Incheon, Amelia Yeo’s loved ones helped turn a nervous race debut into a shared milestone. (Photo: Amelia Yeo)

The finish line brought an emotional release. “Quite frankly, I underestimated how tough the race would be,” she admitted. Crossing it with her family present led to “a big cry that was filled with equal parts relief, pride and gratitude.”

Beyond race day, the trip resembled a typical family holiday, complete with food, shopping and sightseeing around Seoul. “We even went to an outlet mall after my race,” she said. “That was how committed we were to the shopping experience.”

THE RISE OF THE FITNESS TRAVEL TRIBE

If Yeo’s experience illustrates the personal side of race-cations, DOP Training Club shows how the phenomenon is scaling into organised group travel.

The Hong Kong-based fitness community first travelled together for Hyrox in Taipei in 2025, with around 30 to 40 members joining the trip. Yeung said coordinating the group was a complex undertaking, with flights to arrange, hotel rooms to secure and race-day details to manage.

For the Taipei trip, the group worked together to source accommodation, negotiate rates and coordinate travel plans. Members stayed in the same hotel, flew on similar schedules and joined group activities throughout the weekend.

“We wanted to keep it super tight-knit,” said Yeung. The itinerary extended well beyond race day, with group dinners, visits to night markets and celebrations once the competition concluded.

“We went to Raohe Night Market,” he recalled. “Then we did the race on Saturday and went straight to the club [award-winning KOR.Taipei] on Saturday night.”

Yeung sees these moments not as a contradiction of a fitness-focused lifestyle, but as part of the experience. “It’s a holiday as well,” he said. “It’s a celebration of all the training that has led to that race.”

Members typically spend 12 to 15 weeks preparing for an event, making the post-race celebrations feel well-earned. “We’ve trained really hard and been really disciplined, so this is our reward. We get to enjoy the time that we have together.”

For coaches, the role extends beyond programming workouts. On overseas race weekends, they become organisers, mentors and cheerleaders. “Before a big match, a football manager has to calm the nerves of the players,” explained Yeung. “It’s the same kind of approach.”

The result is a travelling community that extends beyond the gym floor. “What Hyrox does really well is it’s very catered to the general mass market,” he said, comparing Hyrox participants to runners who travel for the New York or London marathons. “That opens up the possibilities for different groups to travel.”

COLLECTING CITIES

For fitness influencer Angus Tan, a Hyrox race-cation gives the trip a clear purpose – with the competition anchoring the rest of the itinerary. (Photo: Angus Tan)

For many participants, one race quickly becomes several. Cheung is already planning future competitions in Paris and Switzerland. Yeo has signed up for another race in Seoul in November 2026, this time in the Women’s Doubles category with a friend flying in from London.

Tan believes this is becoming increasingly common. “There’s this whole culture around collecting Hyrox patches from different cities,” he said. “People wear them on their backpacks like a map of everywhere they’ve competed.”

In some ways, it resembles the marathon tourism boom, which saw runners travel the world chasing major races in cities such as New York, London and Berlin. But Hyrox’s accessibility is broadening the appeal beyond seasoned endurance athletes.

Participants are beginning to build travel plans around race calendars, choosing destinations based on the events they want to experience. For some, that means seeking out iconic venues. For others, it is simply an excuse to explore a new city with friends, family or training partners.

Either way, the race has become more than a competition. It is the reason for the trip, the centrepiece of the itinerary and, increasingly, the souvenir itself.

As Tan puts it, those embroidered patches are becoming something akin to passport stamps – markers not just of where people have travelled, but of what they achieved when they got there.