Deadly Dozen is now the second most popular hybrid fitness sport in the UK, after you-know-what. Where HYROX goes for 8+8 runs + stations, and DEKA goes for 10+10, Deadly goes for a Dozen. This takes the form of a Dozen runs and stations – or ‘labours’, as they call them in this sport.
Each run is 400m round an athletics track, and the labours are, in order: 240m farmers carry, 60x deadlift, 60m lunges, 60x snatches, 60m burpee broad jumps, 60x goblet squats, 240m front carry, 60x push press, 120m bear crawl, 60x clean and press, 180m overhead carry and 20x devil press.
In the words of Ian Kay from the Hybrid Racing Podcast, who refers to the labours as ‘sneakily hard’: “Most of the first six are similar movement patterns to Hyrox. This combined with the short outside runs can easily trap an athlete into going too fast at the start and burning out once they hit some of the full body exercises like bear crawls.” And as Jude Reynolds (Men’s 4th overall) put it, “Deadly Dozen becomes very upper-body dominant from Labours 7-12. That’s where most Hyrox athletes fall apart and lose time.”
2,500 athletes descended on Deadly Dozen’s inaugural World Championships this weekend in Crystal Palace, marking a fitting climax to a season that attracted qualifying athletes from all over the World. For weeks leading up to the Championships, teams from Germany, South Africa, New Zealand and elsewhere had their kits ready and were hyping up the event on social media, and it did not disappoint.
In the men’s singles, Dave Parkin came in as a runaway favourite for the title as world record holder and owner of enough Deadly Dozen event winner’s flags to cover a house, never mind a gym wall. But it was a very warm day and although Dave’s cadence on some of the stations looked like you were watching at double speed, it was ultimately on the runs that Fabian Eisenlauer had the decisive edge.
Indeed, Fabian went out quick from the start and it was left to Ben Pearson, who like Dave has gone all-in on Deadly Dozen this year, to try and hold on. The fact that there are now full-time Deadly Dozen athletes is more evidence of the growth and seriousness of the Deadly Dozen project, headed by Jason Curtis out of the ‘Institute of Hybrid Fitness Racing’ in Macclesfield, England.
The men’s and women’s fields ran together, so we were treated to the sight of Rachel Hodgkinson at the bear crawl station going ahead of the leading men with an incredible form that had her looking full quadruped. She was in a class of her own, winning by two and a half minutes. Her runs were among the best, but she took enormous chunks out of her rivals’ times on stations such as the burpee broad jumps (1st by 33secs) and bear crawl (30secs quicker than podium rivals) and lunges (1st by 7secs).
Rachel also won the women’s doubles with her partner Natalie Crompton in a World Record 37:04. Meanwhile Men’s Champ Fabi Eisenlauer formed team ‘Eisenlausi’ with girlfriend Jennifer Nikolaus, who was runner up in the Womens Singles. They set a World Record 34:21 to win the Mixed Doubles ahead of Dave Parkin & Fern Gardner, and also managed to take a podium spot in the relay. With £12,000 to the winners of overall categories, £5,000 for second and £2,000 for third, the German couple cleaned up.
The other big winners of the day were Tony Revell and Ciaran Parkinson, Hyrox Elite15 athletes who comfortably won the men’s pairs. Unfortunately, some of the top pairs were spread across different waves so it was a bit more time trial than a straight-up fight to the finish, but they won by well over a minute while the next four pairs finished within 40 seconds of each other.
Results
Women’s singles
1. Rachel Hodgkinson (37:44)
2. Jennifer Nikolaus (40:26)
3. Alexia Yannaros (43:02)
4. Jezabel Kremer (44:05)
5. Karleigh Wright (44:13)
Men’s singles
1. Fabian Eisenlauer (38:28)
2. Ben Sheppard (39:00)
3. Dave Parkin (39:26)
4. Jude Reynolds (40:17)
5. Peter Schiller (42:21)
Women’s Doubles
1. Crompton & Hodgkinson (37:04)
2. Lawrence & Lebenstedt (37:53)
3. Thies & Thur (39:19)
4. Musial & Meyer (40:09)
5. Mcgreal & Vipond (40:27)
Men’s Doubles
1. Parkinson & Revell (33:46)
2. Pewtner & Humphries (34:57)
3. Kiefer & Zajons (35:24)
4. Reynolds & Headford (35:36)
5. Kamffer & Nel (35:38)
Mixed Doubles
1. Nikolaus & Eisenlauer (34:21)
2. Gardner & Parkin (35:41)
3. Oberländer & Schiller (35:50)
4. Fuller & Foulds (37:07)
5. Wetzel & Bittig (40:17)
Look out for Deadly Dozen World Championships in Birmingham, September 2027, and head to deadlydozen.com for details of their events throughout the year, including their indoor from October through April.
Learn more at The Hybrid Fitness Report.
