An Inverurie mum who used Hyrox to motivate her recovery from an operation to remove a pelvic tumour will race at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in two weekends’ time.
Claire McDonald, 46, was 25th out of 60 in the 45-49 age group of the women’s open event on her Hyrox debut in Malaga, Spain, in March – her impressive time of 1:28.33 placing her 327th out of 792 women competing overall.
Garioch Sports Centre member Claire signed up to her maiden race in July last year – despite being on an NHS waiting list to remove a 10-centimetre mass from her pelvis.
She said: “I booked Malaga last July knowing that I was still waiting for my operation – but I got a cancellation in September last year.
“The good thing about having Malaga for me was you got back on the horse really quickly, because I was like: ‘I’m going to have to get back training.'”
Claire is part of a thriving Hyrox community at Inverurie’s flagship sports centre, where there are hall-based group Hyrox classes, as well as gym space dedicated to the fast-growing fitness phenomenon.
Spinal condition helped lead Claire to fast-growing sport
Having developed a degenerative disc syndrome at the top and bottom of her spine, which put paid to her teenage participation in trampolining, Claire has also run marathons and taken part in triathlons over the years.
But Hyrox – where eight 1km runs are punctuated by functional stations, including sled push/pulls, rowing, burpees and lunges – brings together multiple elements of her previous fitness pursuits, including gym training, while allowing her to also preserve her spinal health.
She said: “Trampolining was my background when I was younger, but I have a condition to my spine – degenerative disc syndrome at the top and the bottom.
“They didn’t want to operate because the risks were too high. I just know how to manage it.
“I was told not to run at that point, but I find if I keep runs slightly shorter (it’s fine).
“I have run a marathon – and was okay afterwards – (but) that’s where Hyrox comes in. It’s short bursts of running. One kilometre.
“I went into triathlon, just recreationally, and enjoyed that. And again, that’s probably where the Hyrox stuff comes in – that transition in between different exercises.”
Husband said Claire looked like ‘kid in a playground’
While Claire’s Hyrox race debut in Spain was not without its challenges – including the surprise of her GPS watch being unable to track her running distance indoors and a wrong turn at one stage – a special spectator’s review of her performance contributed to an immediate desire to book her next race…
She said: “In terms of atmosphere, my husband Stuart said to me – he was there watching – and he’s like: ‘You were like a kid in a playground’.
“I absolutely had the best experience. It was just ace.
“There were no surprises, I knew I’d trained properly. I had fuelled going into the race right.
“I had the best time ever.
“I was massively proud of myself as well, because I’d done a lot of the training on my own.
“I was glad to be finished, but I also knew I had a lot more left in the tank.”
Could Claire team up with Commonwealth Games boxing hopeful son for Hyrox?
Conveniently, when looking for her second race, Hyrox Cardiff happens to be taking place on the same weekend Claire’s son, Commonwealth Games medal prospect boxer Ben Bonner, 18, is in the Welsh capital for the British Amateur Boxing Championships.
Mother-of-two Claire said: “I’ve got Cardiff booked – I’ve done the Friday rather than the Sunday.
“I’m down in Cardiff anyway, because my son will be competing at the British Championships.
“I have said to him: ‘Do you fancy doing a doubles with your mum? But you’ll have to slow down when you’re running!’
“I’d like to be sub-1:25 in Cardiff, so fingers-crossed for that.
“I’ve got a different strategy going in – rather than looking at pace and the runs, Dave Cribbes, who trains here at Garioch and has done a few Hyroxes as well, he takes it by the run and the station together and looks at them for sub-10 minutes each. That’s a better way.”
After Cardiff, Claire is then also planning to go to Gdansk, Poland, in October for her third race of the year.
‘I’m not 21 – I’m 46’
Claire works in performance sport, for both the Inverurie Youth Sports Foundation, based at Garioch, and as a performance lifestyle practitioner for the Scottish Institute of Sport at Aberdeen Sports Village.
However, her passion for Hyrox is about staying healthy for as long as she can, rather than the more hardened mindset required by athletes in her professional life.
She said: “What I don’t want to do is get really competitive that it becomes all about times – it’s also got to be enjoyable as well.
“In a performance environment, I get why we always look at improvement. That’s the world I’m living with work.
“There’s the other side of it where what I train for is around mobility and making sure that I’m well for the rest of my life – fit and well.
“I’m not 21 anymore. I’m 46 years old.”
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