HYROX Birmingham 2026 ran for six days at the NEC, 27 October to 1 November. Team NEON raced on most of them. Between them they took a mixed doubles age-group win and a place at the 2027 World Championships, a Women's Relay win, two sub-60 doubles, and personal bests in every single race they lined up for.

This is what happened.

Team NEON results at HYROX Birmingham 2026

• Jakub and Daisy, Mixed Doubles: 56:29. Age-group win, 2:13 PB, qualified for the PUMA HYROX World Championships in Hong Kong, June 2027.

• Jakub, Men's Solo: 1:00:27. A ten-minute PB and third in his age group.

• Daisy, Kate, Georgia and Grace, Women's Team Relay (U40): first place, white flag.

• Tyler and Joe, Pro Doubles: 56:49 on their pro doubles debut.

• Lewis and Matty, Men's Doubles: 1:00:38 in their first official race together.

• Matty, Men's Solo: 1:09:43, an 8:50 PB and his first sub-70.

• Tyler, Men's Solo: 1:03:48, a PB.

• Kate, Women's Solo: her first sub-70, in her only solo of the season.

• Daisy, Women's Solo: 1:10:18 on her solo debut, averaging 3:52/km on the runs.

Hong Kong, booked

Seven and a half weeks ago Jakub and Daisy ran 1:03 in Tenerife and, despite an incredible time, came home frustrated. On Saturday they crossed the line at the NEC in 56:29, top of their age group, and with that a place at the World Championships in Hong Kong next June.

The number that tells the story is the run pace: 3:39 per kilometre, averaged across all eight runs. Daisy only started running training at the beginning of this year. Jakub put it best: "If someone told us that we would've held 3:39 min/km avg run at the beginning of this year, we would've laughed."

They reckon there is another two minutes in the stations. Manchester is next. Watch this space.

Jakub's redemption run

Two days earlier Jakub had unfinished business of his own. After a 1:10:06 at the World Championships and a 1:09:45 in Tenerife, he went self-coached, stripped his training back and rebuilt it around pacing.

It worked. 1:00:27, third in his age group on a stacked UK field, and every run after the sled push within five seconds of the last. "This race was a massive sigh of relief," he wrote afterwards. "The progress is there."

A white flag, in pink

On Friday night we sent a Women's Relay team out with two jobs: leave everything on the course, and carry the pink strip. Daisy Evans, Kate Collenette, Georgia Limb and Gracious Phillips did both. They won the Women's Team Relay (U40), around half a minute clear of the field, and brought the white flag home.

The pink strip exists because of CoppaFeel. We partner with them so that every pack of NEON Pink carries a chest-check insert based on their guidance, and because one of our founders, Kris, has seen first-hand what breast cancer does to a family. Four women winning in pink, on a night in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is exactly what that partnership is for.

Kate wasn't done. She came back for her only solo of the season and finally got the sub-70 she has been chasing. Nine more races in the next fifteen days, apparently.

The sub-60 chase

Lewis and Matty went into their first official race together with one number in mind. They came out with 1:00:38, which is thirty-eight seconds the wrong side of it and, as Matty put it, "analysed 1000x over" within a day.

The positives were real. Lewis has spent eight weeks sharpening his running with Jakub and PB'd every single lap. Matty went back out three days later for a solo and took 8 minutes 50 off his best, 1:09:43, his first sub-70. "Came for the sub 70 and we got it."

They are running the doubles back. Synchro Team Games is on 7 November and Dublin Mixed Doubles on the 14th.

Foot down and smile

Tyler opened his week with a solo PB of 1:03:48 and a race edit that is worth a watch. Then on Saturday night, in the 19:20 wave, he and Joe Johnston made their Pro Doubles debut: 56:49. "We did it. Debut pro doubles. Over and out."

What they said about the strips

We don't pay athletes to say nice things about nasal strips. We give them strips and let them race.

• "Got me through that second half." Matty, after his 1:09:43.

• "Helping us stay on top of our breathing and perform when it matters most." Lewis, the night before the doubles.

• "Thank you to NEON for believing in me." Jakub, after his 1:00:27.

What's next

Synchro Team Games on 7 November. Dublin on the 14th. Manchester for Jakub and Daisy. And in June 2027, the World Championships in Hong Kong.

Meet the rest of the team on our Athletes page. If you raced Birmingham in a NEON strip, tag @neon_perform and tell us how it went. If you want to race in one, the strips are in the shop. New to nasal breathing? Start with Learn to Breathe. And if your community should hear about NEON too, we've just opened our affiliate programme.