Kids aged 8 to 15 will get their own shot at the gym-floor spotlight when AIA HYROX Youngstars makes its Asian debut at Singapore EXPO on 28-29 November 2026. It's the first official Youngstars race in Asia, though Singapore hosted one of HYROX's early youth pilot events back in 2024, and the format has since been run in London, Berlin, Salt Lake City and Oslo.
This isn't the adult course scaled down by brute force. The youth version adapts running distances, sled weights and repetitions across four age groups - 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15 - with separate divisions by gender. Race age is determined by how old the child is on race day, and kids must be at least 8 to take part. No prior experience or qualification is needed, and a parent or guardian must handle registration.
The race mirrors the adult HYROX structure: eight workout stations split by running laps of roughly 200-275m. Stations include the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull or drag, jumps, rowing, farmers carry, lunges, and wall balls or squats. But the scaling is thoughtful. The youngest group does frogger jumps instead of burpee broad jumps, unweighted lunges, and 50 squats with a 1kg ball rather than proper wall balls. Sled pushes start at 35kg for the 8-9s and only hit the fearsome adult-standard 102kg for boys aged 14-15. Running laps also ramp up: younger kids run an entry lap, a middle lap and an exit lap, while only the oldest group runs between every station.
It's still a timed, ranked race - fastest finishers top each division - but the rulebook instructs judges to keep things nurturing, even helping young racers meet movement standards where needed. Before racing, every participant gets a structured briefing, warm-up, mobility work and a chance to test the equipment.
Practical details for parents: entry costs $65 for ages 8-11 and $75 for ages 12-15, which includes one guardian spectator. Extra spectators over 12 pay $32 each; under-12s enter free but still need a registered ticket. On race day, kids need a government- or school-issued photo ID showing date of birth plus their registration confirmation, and each racer gets a timing chip, race number and wrist lanyard at check-in.
For fitness-minded families, this is a genuine reason to build a Singapore weekend around - a timed sports event that's actually designed for kids rather than a marketing afterthought, held at an expo centre that's easy to reach and pair with a city break. Registration and the full race schedule should be confirmed closer to the date.
