'Proud to put our town on the map'- Chorley dad places amongst best in the world at Hyrox World Chamionships
“I’m proud to put our little town on the map” says the Chorley man who just placed amonst the best in the world at a global fitness competition.
A father of two from Chorley has successfully placed amongst the best in the world at his first ever Hyrox World Championships.
Born and bred Chorley man Alex Winstanley, and his training partner George Burton from Blackrod, competed in the Hyrox World Championships in Stockholm over the weekend.
The global fitness competition, which runs in annual seasons, fuses functional training and running to create a high intensity workout.
Whilst this is new dad George’s second Hyrox season, it is Alex’s first, having only picked up the sport 18 months ago.
Despite this being the pair’s first ‘Pro Doubles’ event, they impressed themselves and their loved ones by placing 25th in the world out of over 400 pairs who competed, with a final time of 55:16.
Alex, who now lives in Blackrod, told the Post: “We’re definitely proud of where we've come and what we've done. We didn’t expect it because this was our first season competing in the Hyrox together, so we didn’t know what the opposition level was going to be like. We always knew we had it in us but whether we was going to do as well as we did, I don’t know, so yeah it was a really good weekend.”
Already a fairly fit man, 35-year-old Alex said he had to get in the best shape of his life for the Hyrox World Championships which meant 18 months of persistent hard work and dedication.
He was helped along with this by George’s wife, Farm with Betti, who was the pair’s specific Hyrox trainer, as well as Jenning’s Gym in Chorley, where he trains frequently.
The World Championships themselves are then known to be gruelling both physically and mentally, but Alex, who runs a flooring business, told us he was spurred on by the sight of his eldest son at the Stockholm competition.
He said: “Spectators can get like really close to you, so when you're struggling a bit and you see them, it always gives you that bit of a push. So, yeah, it was good to have him there.”
Alex’ wife Robyn, who was also there on the day, said: "Watching Alex and George compete at the HYROX World Championships was an absolute masterclass in dedication. The months of gruelling early morning training and pure grit completely paid off. I could not be prouder of their incredible performance and the way they represented our community on the world stage. They proved that hard work truly delivers results."
Being able to represent his local community was an importat thing for Alex too, he told us: “Chorley’s obviously a small town and I’m at the World Championships, where there’s people from all over the world - Australia, Brazil, America. So to come in the top 25 out of 400, as someone from Chorley, yeah I’m proud to put our little town on the map.”
The only other Lancastrians the pair met at the Hyrox were actually a couple form Blackburn who went on to win the whole category.
“They did well really well, but they’ve been doing Hyrox a lot longer than us so I suppose that’s our next goal, to try and get up where they are!”, Alex promised.