Hybrid Games NW vs Spartan Race: distance, stations, price & difficulty compared (2026-27)

Hybrid NW is a UK hybrid fitness race series that started in north-west England. Every race is nine stations on one continuous clock, joined by 600 m runs and ending with a 200 m run to the finish. The stations are an assault bike, wall balls, a row, burpee broad jumps, loaded lunges, dumbbell snatches, a farmers carry, a SkiErg and a sled push.

Seven divisions race the same course with weights scaled by division: Male and Female Solo; Male, Female and Mixed Doubles; Tribrid, a three-person tag team; and Hyteens, which pairs a 13 to 15 year old with an adult. The 2026 season included a race at Derby Arena and a season finale at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. The series works with a network of affiliate gyms across the UK, and spectators enter free. It suits athletes with a mix of running and gym fitness, including juniors racing with a parent.

Spartan Race is an obstacle course racing series established in Vermont, USA, in 2010, with events in more than 40 countries. Courses combine off-road trail running with obstacles such as walls, barbed-wire crawls, monkey bars and a spear throw, and they often include mud and water.

The main distances are the Sprint (5 km, 20 obstacles), the Super (10 km, 25 obstacles), the Beast (21 km, 30 obstacles) and the Ultra (50 km, 60 obstacles). Completing a Sprint, Super and Beast in one calendar year earns the Spartan Trifecta, and many venues host Trifecta Weekends with all three races. Spartan also runs Stadion races in sports stadiums, trail races, kids' races, competitive Elite and Age Group heats, and endurance events. The Sprint is pitched at first-timers, while the Beast and Ultra suit experienced racers.