Proving that age is just a number and the need to train from infancy is a fallacy, one Lurgan man is dominating the Hyrox scene having only come to the sport two years ago.
Father-of-three Connor Magill (42) regards himself as a “distance runner by trade”, but – like with his involvement in Hyrox – some might say he was a little late to the party.
He first took to running aged 22, as a means to better his mental health and it worked. But in time, as most runners can attest, injury played its part.
Speaking to Armagh I, Connor said: “I’ll be honest it probably saved my life. It has always been with me and it’s always helped me through.
“It’s a different version of me when I’m training and when I don’t. It’s what makes me feel alive. It’s like a black and white film when I don’t train and a colour film when I’m finished.”
The former 5k Northern Irish National Champion excelled in running and had his sights set on a championship start at the London Marathon when disaster struck.
“I picked up an injury,” he explained. “I have a long history of injuries. It forced me to stop competing and that was when I was 32.
“So, I got into the gym but originally I had no love for the gym. I did it to rehab my running injuries and kind of fell in love with Crossfit-style although I wasn’t doing Crossfit to an extent – I would have taken bits out of it, that sort of high intensity stuff.”
During a 10-year running hiatus Connor delved into his new-found love by becoming an entrepreneur. He built Limitless Fitness which now operates from two separate locations.
He describes himself as “all or nothing”, so when friends suggested he get involved with Hyrox – which involves running between 40 to 50 miles per week – he took it to the max.
Continued Connor: “I started doing Hyrox classes on Sundays but I wasn’t really affiliated with them at that time. I really enjoyed it but I knew I could progress with it if I started running again.”
The self-trained athlete – who continues to wake at 3.30am every morning to complete a 10 mile run – went on to represent Northern Ireland last November in cross-country running.
He completed a mammoth 110 miles that weekend and the competitive bug bit once more. He began training for the Manchester Marathon – but they say history repeats itself – and sadly for Connor, it did.
After picking up a tear in back of his ankle an overcompensation resulted in a further tear behind his knee. The marathon was shelved.
He came to the conclusion that he could run to an extent but it could no longer be his primary focus – or his means of competition. Little did he know, that his dedication to Hyrox would deliver him just that.
Nonchalantly, he explained: “I trained for Hyrox in the background and booked a competition online in Malaga last April. I only told my wife and children and they came with me. I ended up coming first in my age category.”
That gleaming – and unexpected – gold won him a spot at the Hyrox World Championships in June 2024. Here, he placed eighth in his age category (40 – 45 years).
Connor’s bronze medal from the Hyrox European Championships in Vienna
Within the same age category, the Hyrox-enthusiast has also gone on to place 2nd in Stuttgart, 2nd in Madrid and 1st in Dallas – all in the last number of months.
Most recently, he celebrated coming 3rd overall in the Hyrox European Championships held in Vienna on Saturday, February 22.
Of his ambitions, he said: “I’ve taken four minutes off my time in a year, which was already a highly respectable time.
“Now I’m the fourth fastest person of all time in my age category. I know myself that there’s more there but it’s staying injury free.”
Each station at the Hyrox competition starts with a 1k run followed by a functional movement across eight stations.
The functional fitness movements include 1k ski machine, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps 80m, 1000m row, farmer’s walk 200m, 100m walking lunges and 100 wall balls.
“There’s something about the challenge of it that has roped me in,” he said. “I would say it’s fun but I would be telling lies, it is challenging.”
But, he says he has the right mindset to keep pushing through the pain and this same mindset fuels his success in competition.
Said Connor: “I have a very healthy ego. I compete against who I was yesterday.
“I have matured enough now. Maybe when I was younger I would have been looking over my shoulder but I’m at an age now where it’s just me against me.
“If I can get 1% better than who I was yesterday, that’s all I want.”
With his success in Vienna, Connor has now qualified for the next World Championships to be held in June in Chicago.
“There’s an Elite Race for the top 15 guys who have qualified and there’s no age category,” he explained. “I wouldn’t even want to say that I’d get it because it’s such a high level.
“I was a couple minutes behind the world champion on Saturday so it could be two minutes 50 seconds off the world champion’s time and ideally I’d like to push for that.
“It’s probably 18 months in the pipeline but I’m going to keep trying. What comes of it comes of it.
“If you put an external pressure on it you just set yourself up to fail. I have a great belief in my ability and I would never put a roof on what I can and can’t do.”
