ATHX vs Wild Hybrid: distance, stations, price & difficulty compared (2026-27)

ATHX is a UK-born hybrid fitness competition, co-founded by coach Ollie Marchon, that now runs events across the UK, Europe and the United States. Each ATHX event is a continuous 2.5-hour session across six zones. Every competitor completes the same three workouts: a Strength zone (20 minutes), an Endurance zone (30 minutes) and a MetCon X zone (30 minutes). These are separated by a warm-up zone, a refuel zone and a recovery zone. The workouts and movement standards are published for each season.

Athletes enter as singles or pairs, in an ATHX or a harder ATHX PRO category, and pairs can be same-sex or mixed. Season results lead to the ATHX Finals, held in Lisbon in 2026. The fixed rest periods and clear divisions make ATHX accessible to first-timers, while the strength element suits athletes who lift as well as run and row.

Wild Hybrid is a UK hybrid fitness race series that combines off-road trail running with outdoor functional workouts, held at estate and park venues. It was launched in 2024 by Daniel Flint of Wild Deer Events and Sam Marshall of CrossFit Chester le Street.

The format alternates five 1 km trail runs with five workout stations and finishes with a 5 km trail run, for about 10 km of running in total. Stations have included sandbag lunges, D-ball cleans, a sled push and pull, single-dumbbell devil's presses and wall balls, with standard and scaled weights. Athletes can race solo or in pairs, and pairs can be same-sex or mixed; pairs run side by side and alternate reps at the stations. Season 3 venues include Lambton Castle (Durham), Bramham Park (Leeds), High Lodge in Thetford Forest, Pollok Park (Glasgow), Bowness on Windermere and Druridge Bay Country Park. It suits trail runners and functional fitness athletes who prefer racing outdoors.