We felt like gladiators entering an arena.

This was Hyrox Taipei last Saturday. As soon as we entered the mammoth venue the day before for athlete check in at an exhibition/expo place called Nangnang Center, we felt like we walked into a casting call for Physical 100.

We were used to attending marathon expos and the runners are your everyday people of all shapes and sizes who happen to have extraordinary endurance. This was different.

A lot of the athletes looked like Vikings ready to go to war.

Honestly, I felt intimidated. I thought to myself that these were probably the CrossFit, Spartan and bodybuilder folks who probably wanted to try something new. We belong to the “runner” group. My WekenRun teammates were either marathoners or triathletes who similarly got attracted to this new sport.

Since there are so many participants, the organizers segregated those who are racing in the singles event, then the doubles, and the relay participants. One is assigned a gunstart wave and while waiting there is a huge open recovery and warm up area with all sorts of equipment for people to get ready. Even the spectators are welcome to join in.

The atmosphere inside the venue is electric with athletes doing their thing, there is a DJ playing upbeat music and a hype person constantly talking and commentating.

Minutes before one’s allotted start time, the athletes are led to a giant inflatable Red Bull start tunnel further amping up the anticipation.

Then we were off. My doubles partner and I were both runners so it was really a relief that every segment starts with a one-kilometer run. The first run was to serve as our warm up and the other runs as our brief period of rest from the workouts to bring down our heart rates before attacking each exercise.

When we did a full simulation days before race day, we ended with a time of 1:37 which gave us a lot of confidence going into the race.

Last minute, however, we tweaked strategies a bit. Instead of cutting up the workouts into small bits so we can do each bit alternately, we decided to divide the Skiergs and the Rowing Machines into 500 meters each thinking this would be more efficient.

We would later realize this wasn’t necessarily the case especially with the Skiergs causing a lot of upper body fatigue.

The layout of the different work out stations that lead to the running area around the perimeter of the venue was so seamlessly designed and efficient.

I feared getting lost or confused but everything was properly marked. Once you step on the corner timing mat in the run area, the giant screen will indicate if you are to start your workout or continue running.

After a while, my partner, Chloi, and I fell into a rhythm. She was the faster runner than me but since the tules required doubles teammates to run alongside each other, I’d call on her to slow down a beat every now and then.

For the other workouts, we decided to do a lap/round each. However with the burpees broad jumps (BBJ) and the wall balls, Chloi, who was much younger, a varsity athlete and a coach, was so efficient with the BBJs — she was hopping like a grasshopper — and with the wall balls that she covered a lot of ground.

This was why with barely two weeks of Hyrox specific training, we finished with a time of 1:30.

Hyrox is at least 60 percent running so it really helped that we had years of good running foundation courtesy of Coach Ken Mendola.

For the Hyrox specific training, we tapped Coach Tolitz Divina, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in obstacle course racing. We also did a couple of sessions with F45 Coaches who also gave us useful tips.

Most importantly, this bold venture would not have been made possible without the support and encouragement of our WeKenRun teammates. We were all amateurs trying Hyrox for the very first time. Their support made all the difference.