Doubles guide
Your partner can't make it. Now what?
An injury, a last-minute dropout, or two people who just can't agree on a date or a city. It happens to more pairs than you'd think. Your race is usually not lost, but the clock starts the day you find out.
First, check your ticket
- Your partner's name isn't on it yet: you can usually just put your new partner's name on it. Doubles tickets have to carry both names at least two weeks before the event, so don't leave it to the last week.
- It's already personalized: you need the Flex add-on (or Flex Lite, where your event offers it). It can only be bought with the ticket, not added later. It gives you one name change per ticket, made in the athlete's HYROX account until 7:59 AM, event time, the day before your race day.
- Same division only: HYROX does not allow division changes. In Mixed a woman replaces a woman and a man replaces a man.
- What you can't do: switch to singles, or move the ticket to another event. Ticket types can't be changed once the booking is confirmed.
- If you'd rather get your money back: with Flex, refunds are 100% up to 31 days before your race day and 50% up to 7 days before, minus the Flex fee and the service fee.
These are the rules on HYROX's event pages for the 26/27 season. Details can vary by event and region, so your event page and your HYROX account have the final word.
First thing: don't panic, and don't sell your ticket. Check whether your partner already personalized it. If not, you can usually just put someone else's name on it. If it is personalized, you need Flex, and you can only buy that when you book. So my advice: always take Flex on a doubles ticket. And don't spend a week hoping your partner recovers. That week is exactly what you need to find someone new.
Emi
How much time do you need?
Less than you think. A week can work, two is comfortable. You are not looking for a perfect match, you are looking for someone in your division, with a goal you can both hold, who shows up.
Honestly, the time doesn't matter that much, as long as you communicate well during the race. Agree beforehand when you switch and how you switch, and then keep talking out there. That saves you more time than months of training together.
Emi
What to agree on with a new partner
- Division and goal time: the same division, and a finish time you can both actually hold. You run every kilometer together, at the slower runner's pace.
- The split: who takes which station, and where you swap. It doesn't have to be 50/50. Our station split guide goes through it station by station.
- The calls: how you signal a switch mid-station. A word, a number of reps, a line on the floor. Decide it before the start, not during the sled push.
- Race weekend: start wave, check-in, both IDs. The race weekend checklist has the order.
It's not always an injury
Sometimes nobody drops out. You just never line up.
Fabienne got into HYROX through a friend, but the two of them just couldn't agree on when or where to race. So she decided to stop waiting and race doubles with someone else: me. We already knew each other, so we found each other the old way. Not everyone has someone like that, and that's exactly what ROXMATCH is for.
Emi
Finding someone new
ROXMATCH shows you athletes racing the same event, in your division, with a goal time close to yours, so you only talk to people you can actually race with. Free on the App Store and Google Play.
Questions athletes ask
Can I change my partner on a HYROX doubles ticket?
If your partner's name isn't on the ticket yet, you can usually add your new partner. Once it's personalized, only with the Flex add-on: one name change, until 7:59 AM event time the day before your race day.
Can I add the Flex add-on later?
No. Flex can only be bought together with the ticket.
Can I switch from doubles to singles if my partner drops out?
No. HYROX doesn't change ticket types or divisions once the booking is confirmed. You need a new partner, or a refund if you have Flex.
In Mixed Doubles, can a man replace a woman?
No. Changes have to stay in the same division, so a woman replaces a woman and a man replaces a man.
Where can I find a new doubles partner fast?
On ROXMATCH: athletes racing your event, in your division, with a goal time close to yours.