Kiwi couple the first over-70s Hyrox world champions
Sophia and Bob Warren started training for the endurance event just weeks before their first competition. They've now done it three times, including a spin at the World Champs in Chicago.
Kerikeri couple Sophia and Bob Warren show up every morning to the gym at 9am. Before their one hour workout, they eat a bowl of oats to fuel their 70-year-old tanks.
Earlier this year, that one hour workout was two - when the married pair decided to become the oldest mixed double to tackle the Hyrox competition.
One of their four sons, Chris, convinced his fit parents to sign up, Sophia told RNZ's Afternoons. He said: "Noone's ever done Hyrox at your age in doubles - that's a man and woman team - you should do it, because you'll be out there, you'll be the first ones".
Sophia on the sled push station at the Hyrox competition.
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The plan was to set their sights on the Brisbane Hyrox competition, happening the first weekend in March this year. But a month before, New Zealand was hosting the sporting event for the first time, so they signed up to compete in Auckland, "as a warmup".
"With about three weeks notice we got stuck in and tried to start running again," Sophia said.
The couple had been focusing on their health and fitness for the last four years, since retiring from work at Springbank School KeriKeri, which they developed and ran for three decades.
"We had booked to do two cycling tours in the South Island and the weekend in between we flew up to Auckland did the Hyrox then flew back down for the second week of cycling, not really knowing what we were in for," Sophia said.
What they were in for was, in Sophia's words, "a marathon on steroids".
Because they were competing as a mixed double, they shared the workload, but must run the course together, and Sophia had to tackle the higher weights than if she was in the single women's event. In between each station was a 1km run.
Sophia and Bob Warren on one of the eight running legs of their Hyrox competition.
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They kicked off with a 1000m SkiErg before Bob took on the grunt work of a 152kg sled push and pull. It was then on to one of Sophia's strengths, 80m of burpees, before they shared a 1000m row, They then lugged 2x24kg kettle bells 200m in what's called a farmer's carry before 100m of lunges led by Sophia with a 20kg sandbag on her back.
The whole event ended with 100 "horrible" wall balls - throwing a 6kg medicine ball at a contact point 3m high for men and 2.7m high for women.
"When you've just done everything else it's pretty strenuous," Bob said, "then you stagger across the line, in my case".
They competed in the 60 to 69-year-old group, and in that first event, they qualified for the Hyrox World Championships, which were held in Chicago in June. There were about five or six individuals aged 70+ competing from around the world, Sophia said, and about twenty older mixed pairs.
Jetlag unfortunately got in the way of their best time, which still stands from their Brisbane race at 1 hour and 54 minutes.
Sophia and Bob Warren finish Hyrox World Championships in Chicago, 2025, in just over 2 hours.
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"We don't really like giving up," said Bob. "To set that target and work towards it, we trained pretty hard to be honest. the satisfaction of getting something done."
He's hoping more over-70s mixed teams will "come out of the woodwork" and sign up for the competition, thinking "we'll knock those guys off their perch".
"Maybe we should give up while we're ahead," he laughed.
The couple have done various challenges together, long runs and a Dutch walk of 50km a day for four days. Hyrox was their toughest challenge yet.
"It's tough, man," Sophia said.
"You can't underestimate it.... You're tired from running, then you go into it compromised into a strength activity. And once you've finished that strength activity, you're even more compromised and then you go and run again.
"It's a mind game as well... towards the end, it's just digging in.
"It's having that real grit... to me it's the ultimate challenge in that it's physical and mental."
Back to their regular regime for now, the hour workout at The Fitness Lab has a strength focus, followed by eggs and coffee at the local Kerikeri cafe.
The couple, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May with their 12 grandchildren at Disneyland, spend their day walking on the beach, maybe taking a swim, relaxing, reading and then "ease into the evening".
Their Coach Gary-John Hill said the couple are "not your typical".
Coach gary-John Hill from The Fitness Lab in Kerikeri.
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"They've got a good base and we've worked on their strength for years and we got their cardio vascular up."
He said it's essential to consult with a doctor before starting any exercise - if you're planning to push your body hard, you need to know it's safe.
He said sleeping and eating well were essential. Most of his clients don't get enough protein, essential for putting on muscle and to prevent it from declining.
"The strength is extremely important... without that strength you can't train very hard... can't train for long periods (and) the the risk of injury is pretty high."
Hill said he was not at all surprised with the success of the pair.
"These two are quite special, the fact that we were training, like, every morning, they would turn up.
"It was cold in the winter, 8 o'clock in the morning, they'd be here. They'd go running outside if they had to, in the rain. I wouldn't force them to do that.
"They're just mentally strong and they did what needed to be done... they have this extra edge about them with everything they do."
