HYROX Cardiff 2026: What to Know About the Principality Stadium Race

HYROX Cardiff 2026 at Principality Stadium: back in an iconic venue

For one week, Cardiff becomes the European capital of functional fitness. From April 29 to May 4, 2026, Principality Stadium hosts the second consecutive HYROX edition in Wales. Seventy four thousand covered seats, a running track laid out around the rugby pitch, and athletes from across Europe ready to tackle 8 kilometres and 8 stations.

If you're racing this year or considering signing up for next season, here's what you need to know, with the data to back it up.

Principality Stadium, a venue that changes everything

Westgate Street, in the heart of Cardiff. Principality Stadium is the home of Welsh rugby, and its retractable roof guarantees a race shielded from any weather. It's one of the only major European stadiums to host an indoor format for HYROX, which has two direct consequences for athletes: no wind, no rain, controlled temperature. No excuses on the conditions side.

The stadium acoustics make for an extremely loud atmosphere. The noise on the final stretch is the first thing 2025 athletes mention.

Dates, divisions and format

Six days of racing

The event runs over six days, from Wednesday April 29 to Monday May 4, 2026. That timeframe lets organisers handle the more than eight thousand athletes expected without saturating the wave schedule. PRO and Elite divisions usually run on the weekend, while Open and Doubles divisions are spread across the full week.

Every division on the schedule

Cardiff features the full HYROX division grid: Open Men, Open Women, Pro Men, Pro Women, Doubles Men, Doubles Women, Doubles Mixed, Pro Doubles (all categories), Adaptive Men, Adaptive Women and Team Relay. If you've never done HYROX, Open is the reference format with intermediate weights (152 kg sled push for men, 102 kg for women).

What the numbers from Cardiff 2025 tell us

The 2025 edition (May 30 to June 1) gathered more than 2,200 finishers across the main divisions. Here are the actual numbers from our results database.

Top 2025 performances

• Pro Men: Afan Humphries (GBR) finished in 58:19, ahead of Sam Craig (59:17) and Tony Revell (1:00:44). The top 5 all finished under 1:03.
• Open Men: the division's best time was 59:20, less than a minute behind the Pro winner.
• Open Women: top time of 1:03:59. More than 400 female finishers, one of the deepest divisions of the event.
• Pro Doubles Men: best time of 53:47, with the doubles format always allowing faster runs thanks to shared station work.

You can browse the full rankings and splits on our Cardiff 2025 results page.

What to aim for to finish well

For the Open Men division at Cardiff 2025, the median finisher landed around 1:30. Open Women, more like 1:40. That's consistent with what we see at other European indoor events: an experienced field, slightly faster than the global average thanks to optimal racing conditions.

How to prep in the remaining days

Race week: taper, don't overload

One week out, drop the volume but keep the intensity. One short station session at 80% two days out, two or three easy runs, and full rest the day before. That's it.

Classic mistake: trying to reassure yourself with a big test session three days out. You won't learn anything you don't already know, and you'll arrive tired.

Race day warm up

The briefing lasts about fifteen minutes. Use the previous thirty minutes to bring up your heart rate gradually: 10 minutes of easy running, 5 minutes of hip and shoulder mobility, a few accelerations, and a short set of wall balls and burpees to wake up the chains.

Race morning

Breakfast three hours before the start: simple carbs, light protein, no heavy fibre. Steady hydration without excess in the 90 minutes before the gun. Coffee if it's your habit. Nothing new on race day.

Practical info

• Venue: Principality Stadium, Westgate Street, Cardiff CF10 1NS
• Dates: April 29 to May 4, 2026
• Registration: on the official HYROX UK site (gb.hyrox.com)
• Access: Cardiff Central Station is a ten minute walk from the stadium

And after the race?

Your splits will be available on ROXWALL within hours after you cross the line. You'll be able to compare run by run, identify where you lost time, and keep a clean record of your performance.

And if you want to display your Cardiff 2026 race at home, we make custom hexagonal frames with your name, time and colours, ready to hold your HYROX patch. Build your ROXWALL Cardiff frame.