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Ian Reid, from Maidstone, reaches for Hyrox World Championships in America after landing his partner’s place for London qualifier

Ian Reid has qualified for the Hyrox World Championships in America - after a helping hand from his partner.

Reid, from Maidstone, missed out in the ballot for places at the Hyrox London event last month.

Partner Claire Lowe was one of the lucky ones to receive a spot but was able to transfer her entry after deciding against taking part.

That gave Reid, who’s competed at World and European Duathlon Championships, six weeks to get ready for a new sport.

His training paid off as he won the 55-59 age category at the Excel in London, securing qualification for the World Championships in Chicago in June.

He’s also set to compete at the European Championships in Austria in February.

Hyrox sees competitors take on eight 1km runs, punctuated by various workout stations, such as sled pull, rowing and sandbag lunges.

“I’ve qualified for the European and World Championships in duathlon this year but I decided not to do it,” explained Reid, 56.

“I was going to have a year’s break from that and then my partner mentioned to me about Hyrox but I didn’t really know anything about it.

“I looked into it and thought I’d give it a go.

“We both put in for the ballot: I didn’t get in but she did.

“But then she didn’t want to do it so she was able to sign her ticket over to me and I had six weeks to completely change all my training and try and lift some weights.

“I hadn’t been doing any weights because of cycling and running for duathlon, so I’d let my bodyweight lighten up over a number of years.

“All of a sudden I had to get in the gym and start pushing some weights.”

Reid joined Evolution Strength & Fitness in Aylesford after learning from a neighbour they had Hyrox equipment.

He set about preparing for the Excel and went on to win with a time 1hr08min59sec.

He finished 16 seconds clear of the runner-up and four-and-a-half minutes ahead of third.

“The grit and determination for endurance is where my duathlon background complemented the Hyrox,” said Reid.

“Normally my competitions are a couple of hours and this one was a bit over the hour.

“It’s not as long as I’m used to doing, so that helped, but it’s a lot more demanding on muscle strength.

“I wanted go under 1:15 and I knew I’d have to go under 1:10 to get on the podium.

“In my heart I felt like I could get close to 1:10 and I ended up in the 1:08s, which was good enough to win.”

With the competition held over two days, Reid only discovered he had won when he drove back to London on the Saturday night.

That left him with a decision to make - whether to accept his spot for the World Championships, where the weights also increase.

“I thought about it for an hour or two,” said Reid.

“Even though it’s going to cost a fair bit of money to go, we decided I’ve got to take the opportunity because this may be something I can be good at.

“Hyrox is very difficult to qualify in because they only take the top 1% so with the open competitions, you’ve got to win otherwise you’re not going to go. It’s very selective.”

Reid is likely to take part in one or two duathlon qualifiers but his main focus is on his new sport.

“I just want to see where I go with Hyrox at the moment,” he added.

“It’s got me really enthusiastic with my training and given me a real purpose and a real change in everything I’m doing.”

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