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First, here is the hard data for finisher numbers. A finisher is anyone who crosses the finish line. This means every finish is counted, regardless of how many times an individual races during a weekend. For example, if someone competes in both singles and doubles, they count as two finishers. These numbers also do not reflect tickets sold or participants who start but do not finish. To maintain consistency across all events, we used only the publicly available finisher counts from each race’s official results.

The series are ranked by average finishers per event.

TRYKA stands out as the clear leader, averaging nearly 8,000 finishers per event. That is more than double the next closest competitor. Since launching in Dublin last October, TRYKA has made an immediate impact with a level of production that rivals HYROX. The company was founded by Brian Lee, the entrepreneur behind Ireland’s Freshly Chopped restaurant chain. The big question now is whether that success can translate outside of Ireland. Their first event outside the country is scheduled for London on September 5.

GymRace is the next highest, averaging nearly 4,000 finishers per event. After putting on three events in its home city of Utrecht, GymRace expanded into the UK and Germany this year. It currently has four more events scheduled before the end of the year.

ATHX may have the most aggressive expansion plans of any series on this list. Launched in 2023, ATHX has already held nine events in the UK and Europe this year, with seven more still to come. The company also has more than 20 events already scheduled for 2027. ATHX has a unique format that feels more like a CrossFit competition or time trial than a traditional fitness race. It also rewards strength more than most fitness race formats, making it one of the most unique series on this list.

Hybrid Games UK burst onto the scene last year with more than 3,400 finishers in Glasgow and averaged just over 2,000 finishers across its first four events. This year, that average has dropped to just over 1,000. We have reported extensively on the company’s financial struggles, and the decline in participation may have coincided with the some of those issues surrounding the series. A new management group was recently announced with plans to turn the company around.

Deadly Dozen was the first fitness race to adopt an outdoor track-based format and has expanded into almost as many countries as HYROX. The series scheduled aggressively across England this summer with mixed results. Two of its first three events attracted more than 900 finishers, while the remaining events have ranged from roughly 300 to 760. Deadly Dozen has built strong brand recognition and now has one of the largest international footprints in fitness racing. Its lean operating model appears capable of supporting a large number of events, but time will tell whether a smaller schedule next season is better in the long run.

DEKA is an interesting case in that it is backed by the worldwide brand Spartan but has been slow to expand in the UK. They launched their first full fitness race last September in Derby and won’t hold another one until next week at the same location. In Spain, they have found success by putting on “Trifecta” weekends of the shorter distance DEKA Mile and DEKA Strong, something they do not do in the US. So far, there have been seven weekends in Spain averaging 1,358 finishers and one event in Portugal.

The remaining series on this list have generally been met with positive reviews but have yet to attract large participation numbers.

MacTuffX is an interesting case. Born out of the long running obstacle race company MacTuff, it immediately launched an ambitious 30 event schedule using a similar outdoor track format to Deadly Dozen. Between May 4 and July 11, MacTuffX held 13 events but averaged just 124 finishers per event. Several events had fewer than 100 finishers.

While HYROX remains the market leader, there is clearly room for different formats and business models. The next 12 to 18 months should provide a much clearer picture of which series have staying power.

Disclosure: Hybrid Fitness Media has worked with some of the event series included in this report. Those relationships did not affect the reporting or methodology used in this analysis.