National pool for fitness racing mulled

MANILA, Philippines — Triathlon Philippines has initiated the start of the formation of a national pool for fitness racing, a new event sanctioned by World Triathlon that is named hyrox or hyathlon.

“It’s still a new sport but we’re forming our team in hyathlon to align with World Triathlon’s vision for innovation in the sport,” said TP chief and Asia Triathlon Vice President Tom Carrasco after recently attending the World Triathlon Congress.

It will be done in preparation for qualifying races for the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.

Carrasco also bared plans of the country hosting big hyathlon events in the near future.

“We are exploring the possibility of hosting a major Hyrox event next year with the backing of the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and Department of Tourism,” he said.

Hyathlon will be an offshoot of both triathlon and duathlon as the former combines continuous swimming and running, usually in swim-run or run-swim-run format.

It also involves alternating multiple and continuous legs of trail running and open water swimming in teams of two.

Hyathlon could also boost the country’s sports tourism, replicating or even eclipsing the 2026 successes in Bangkok which catered to 18,000 participants (the largest in Southeast Asia) or Singapore, which drew 14,000 fitness buffs over a historic three-day format.