Willow Collins entered HYROX with the kind of athletic background that is becoming increasingly common at the top end of the sport: Division I experience, serious running credentials and years of strength training.
But her original sport was soccer.
Collins played Division I soccer at Gonzaga before injuries and a loss of passion for the sport changed the direction of her college career. After meniscus surgery and an ankle injury, she walked onto Gonzaga’s cross-country team while keeping her soccer scholarship.
“I just felt this calling to run,” Collins said. “I reached out to our school’s cross-country coach, and I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Willow. Can I run for you?’”
The move worked out quickly. Collins ran 9:12 in her first 3K, breaking the Gonzaga school record at the time. She then ran 15:50 in her first 5K at Stanford, in a heat that included professional athletes and Olympians.
“I was so naive and my naivety was a strength,” she said. “I didn’t know who these people were. I just knew what I could do.”
After college, a former Gonzaga strength and conditioning coach suggested traveling to New York for a HYROX Doubles race. The doubles plan did not work out, but Collins was able to enter the individual race instead.
With a soccer and running background, plus years of lifting, HYROX immediately clicked.
“I was like, this is the perfect blending of everything,” Collins said.
Her first race in New York led to a trip to the HYROX World Championships in Stockholm as an age-group athlete. There, Collins said she learned a hard lesson about racing the field too early after trying to stay with Madelyn Eybergen through the early part of the race.
“I went out really hot,” Collins said. “I tried to stay with her the first two stations and that made me feel very uncomfortable very quick.”
She then lined up in the Pro race in Salt Lake City, alongside athletes including Lauren Weeks, Rachael Wade and Lauren Griffith. Collins recorded the fastest sled push in the field, but said she is still figuring out the balance between attacking her strengths and managing the full race.
Her biggest opportunities for improvement, she believes, are burpee broad jumps and wall balls. Collins has been working on both multiple times per week, but her Salt Lake City race included a penalty and left her frustrated with the result.
Still, competing in Salt Lake City was meaningful for the Draper, Utah native. Friends and family were there throughout the race, cheering her on during every lap and station.
Collins is now based in Chicago and taking what she calls a gap year to train while doing some online coaching. Her schedule currently includes HYROX Boston, Denver, Nashville and Chicago. She will also race Women’s Doubles with Molly Chambers in Boston.
Her immediate target is to break 60 minutes in HYROX Pro. Beyond that, she is leaving room to see where the sport takes her.
“I want to do all these races and just see, with putting my full effort out there, what will happen,” Collins said.
She has not abandoned her running ambitions, either. Collins ran 2:44 in her marathon debut and still hopes to pursue an Olympic Trials qualifying time in the marathon.
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