In the last couple of weeks, two flashy new sporting events have been mooted for our city.
Not just the dream of a revived Aberdeen marathon, but the hi-octane racing of the World Rally Championship – and Hyrox should be next.
We reported how Conservative councillors put forward a £50,000 scheme (which I would support, by the way) to reestablish a Granite City Marathon, hoping it can boost the local economy and “attract many more tourists”.
Tory group leader Richard Brooks said: “With marathons, you do get tourists coming in, but you also get competitors from all over the world.”
There was a similar sentiment in recent days, when The Press and Journal revealed talks are taking place to strike a deal with Motorsport UK to bring £80 million worth of WRC racing to Aberdeen over three years.
SNP finance convener Alex McLellan said WRC’s return to Scotland for the first time since 1992, would “drive international investment, generate substantial local economic activity, and create jobs”.
So… if the clear aim on both sides of the council chamber is to boost Aberdeen’s economy by targeting sports and athletics-related tourism, why not court Hyrox?
What exactly is Hyrox?
Hyrox – where competitors break-up eight 1km running laps of a track with high-intensity bursts at functional workout stations, including rowing, burpees, and lunges – is the biggest phenomenon in the fitness sphere right now.
Billed as the “World Series of Fitness Racing”, the events – including elite, singles, doubles and relay competition over multiple days, with same-sex, mixed and age group categories – are held all over the world.
In fact, this year’s Scottish stop is taking place at Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus next week.
South of the border, Manchester has already hosted its Hyrox visit for 2025, while the London Olympia weekend is scheduled for May.
Across the globe, plenty of “smaller” cities are scheduled to welcome Hyrox – with visits to the Dutch city of Heerenveen, Spain’s Malaga and Latvian capital Riga all currently on the 2025 schedule.
So why not Aberdeen?
While the Granite City itself is undoubtedly missing an outdoor mass participation running event, after the demise of not just the old Aberdeen Marathon, but the likes of BHGE 10K and the Great Aberdeen Run, there are popular half-marathons at Balmoral and in Garioch, to name a couple.
Hyrox – even if you, personally, don’t know your wall balls from your ski-erg – does have the kind of mass participatory appeal of any big running festival, with some events, according to organisers, bringing in 8,000 competitors and 10,000 spectators.
The great thing about it, though?
It would be held indoors, and Aberdeen surely has the perfect venue for the running track, the various stations and thousands of spectators – at P&J Live.
‘Translated to Aberdeen, this would mean packed-out hotels in Dyce and the city centre’
Again, while a marathon and the WRC idea are noble ones, the obvious issue with outdoor events taking place in Aberdeen city centre is the number of road closures and policing of those closures required. It costs money.
There would be little of these costs to contend with should Aberdeen secure a place on the Hyrox calendar.
But there would certainly be similar economic benefits…
For the Glasgow event, people who wanted to take part registered in advance and eagerly awaited entries opening – and were willing to part with hundreds of pounds to secure their entry, travel, accommodation and associated costs.
Translated to Aberdeen, this would mean packed-out hotels in Dyce and the city centre, busy restaurants and extra income for tourist hotspots.
While it was elites-only, competition-wise, the 2024 Rogue Invitational at P&J Live showed the previously-untapped potential of fitness events to the Aberdeen economy.
What do you think of the idea to bring Hyrox to Aberdeen? Let us know in our comments section below
The Rogue Invitational – which went so well, organisers are bringing the crossfit/strongman event back this year – brought in an estimated £3.9 million to the local economy, with 6,000 spectators piling into the venue daily across the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of competition.
Aberdeen councillors should recognise Hyrox‘s potential to have the same impact – and let organisers know our city is “fit” to host.
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