Lindsay Balkenbush needed a male partner for a pricey Hyrox mixed-doubles race in Las Vegas.
A newcomer to Boise, Idaho, the paralegal and fitness instructor didn’t exactly have a Rolodex of potential race partners waiting in the wings.
So Balkenbush, 25, reached out to a local CrossFit gym, where owner Brian Wilkerson did her one better and volunteered himself. After training for and completing the race together, they went their separate ways — only for their athletic partnership to blossom into a romantic one a few weeks later.
“It was a good way to get to know Lindsay,” Wilkerson, 26, told The Post. “There’s a little bit of bonding when you go through some shared suffering.”
They’re not the only people discovering that Hyrox can double as a relationship litmus test. Across the fast-growing fitness competition, couples are using the grueling global races to strengthen their bonds, while singles are turning to the sport to find someone who can keep up, literally and otherwise.
When a workout becomes something more
Hyrox combines eight 1-kilometer runs with functional exercises including sled pushes, burpee broad jumps, farmer carries, lunges and wall balls.
Think marathon training meets CrossFit, with enough suffering packed into one event to expose whether a teammate is a cheerleader, a critic or a quitter.
Balkenbush met Wilkerson at a particularly convenient time. His gym, CrossFit Casual, hadn’t opened yet, so “we had the whole gym to be able to train together and run together,” she recalled. “We were training together probably two to three times a week.”
There was, however, a complication.
“We were very serious about doing this race together, so we didn’t want to jeopardize that,” Wilkerson said. “But at the same time, there were just some growing feelings.”
Hyrox offered plenty of opportunities to find out whether those feelings would endure. Those who opt for mixed doubles — a woman and man duo — have to divvy up demanding exercises, communicate when one person is fading and trust the other to carry more of the workload when necessary.
Wilkerson said the demanding format gave him a chance to see how Balkenbush handled challenges.
“You see somebody working hard or working out, and it’s like, ‘Oh, this person wants wants more out of life,” Wilkerson told The Post. “It’s attractive.”
They didn’t cross the finish line as an item. Instead, the two spent time together outside the gym, testing their chemistry without a race clock involved.
About one year after their first Hyrox, they moved in together — a happy ending to the meet-cute storytime that Balkenbush shared with her followers on Instagram.
That kind of viral storytelling is baked into Hyrox culture. The sport has exploded online, where competitors document everything from training triumphs to moments of exhaustion and regret (even crappy ones involving international diarrhea drama).
“My wife is pretty beast. She has that dog in her to finish things. I’m attracted to her at all times, but that kind of 10x-ed it.”
Christian Haynes
Til death (or lunges) do us part
These same Hyrox videos found their way to Maha Haynes’ social media feeds for two years before the 27-year-old content creator decided she would join in.
Then came the harder sell: “I somehow coerced, or encouraged, my husband to get us to do a couples race.”
A former college football player, Christian Haynes wasn’t phased by the strength aspects of the course, but the endurance portion “intimidated” him.
“I’m not a distance running type of guy, plus when you do workouts in between, I think that’s crazy,” Christian, 29, a content creator, told The Post. “I wasn’t too thrilled about doing it, but she really wanted to do it, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll just do it.’”
Training for their 2025 Boston race began with plenty of shared gym sessions in their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Maha, who played field hockey in college and for the Bermuda national team, dialed in on her running, while Christian skipped out on that portion.
Race day ultimately exposed that gap when cramping hit him during the running segments. By the time they reached the lunge station, his legs gave out.
That’s when Maha “had to lock in,” he recalled, and finish that portion for the both of them.
“My wife is pretty beast. She has that dog in her to finish things,” Christian said. “I’m attracted to her at all times, but that kind of 10x-ed it.”
Later, the roles reversed. Christian picked up extra wall balls when she needed help, launching a 13.2-pound ball toward a target about 10 feet high.
For the married college sweethearts coupled for nearly a decade, the experience reinforced that having different strengths and skills makes them stronger.
“It’s just a cool reminder to to show how we actually really work well in a team and and when we collaborate,” said Maha. “It’s not one person’s better than the other, like we really pick each other up when when we need to.”
The ultimate first date : ‘You’re, like, trauma bonded’
Hyrox also offers a unique opportunity for singles seeking both a mixed doubles partner and a date.
The sport has partnered with the dating app SURF to help users meet others who share their Hyrox interests. At races, single athletes can wear a special wristbands from SURF to signal that they’re open to being approached.
They can even compete in mixed doubles on a hand-selected blind date, where strangers are paired and meet for the first time just before they’re expected to run, lift and suffer together.
“You want someone that has the same drive, but not everyone wants to be approached at the gym,” said Rob Long, CEO and co-founder of SURF. “That’s kind of your personal time.”
Feeling “exhausted” from the dating scene, Grace Telepak, a 27-year-old strength coach in Phoenix, Arizona, was ready for something different. The unusual opportunity also intrigued Robert Perez, a private government contractor, running enthusiast and content creator in Washington DC.
“I didn’t see it as anything to lose,” Perez, 33, told The Post. At worst, he’d make a new fitness friend. At best, he’d meet his soulmate.
Telepak and Perez met in the high energy Hyrox start tunnel, just moments before their race in Miami last April.
“A lot of people focus on how well they dress up, how they do their hair, how they do their makeup, right?” said Perez. “In Hyrox, that kind of all goes out the window right away the second you start dripping sweat.”
Perez’s first impression of Telepak — “obviously stunning” — was further cemented by her quick wit and self-confidence. Telepak appreciated that the race forced them to demonstrate who they were instead of simply describing themselves over dinner.
Within minutes, they were seeing each other in a way that can take several dates, or even years, to reveal.
“You’re, like, trauma bonded,” joked Telepak.
The two continued dating long distance after Miami, becoming official right before their second Hyrox. They’ve since raced together three times, shaving more than five minutes off their combined time and landing roughly in the top 50 among thousands of teams.
Their next Hyrox isn’t on the calendar just yet, as they’re working on a much bigger commitment: Perez’s cross-country move to Arizona, to be closer to Telepak.
“We’re figuring that out first, and then we will plan all the athletic events and dates and everything later,” he said.
According to Long, applications for the blind mixed doubles grew from about 5,000 in Miami to 9,000 in New York City two years later.
Next, the company plans to bring the concept to races in Brazil, Australia and the UK, as well as host its first same-sex blind dates in Boston.
“We know it’s important to get people together in person in real life with things they care about and give the efficiency of our tech that give our users the best chance of meeting somebody,” said Long.
Seven of the first 10 blind mixed doubles dates have gone one at least a second date, he pointed out, though Telepak and Perez may have provided the most compelling proof of concept.
“I would say it’s more probable than not that I might officiate their wedding,” he said.
