Local lady is heading for the Hydrox World Championships

Sinead Boyd from Toomebridge will be competing in the Women’s group of the Hydrox World Championships this month. This year’s Hyrox World Championships will take place in Chicago, USA on June 13.

The dedicated mother of three earned her spot on the world stage by achieving a remarkable third place podium finish in her age group at the Barcelona race last month.

ABOVE: Sinead competing at Hyrox in Barcelona

HYROX has become a popular indoor fitness competition for fitness fanatics over the past few years. The competition combines 8 kilometres of running and eight functional workout stations, alternating between running and functional exercises. It bills itself as "The World Series of Fitness Racing" and "A Sport for Everybody".

Speaking to the County Derry Post Sinead explained how she always had a love for fitness, how she first got involved in the competitive Hydrox environment and her hopes for the world final.

“I’ve always had a love for fitness and training. Sometimes it has been difficult to find a work life balance with it being a mum of three but I fell in love with the training and social aspect of it when I joined my local gym Airfield Active in Toomebridge. I found myself training maybe five or six times a week. I wasn’t training for anything at the time, it was more just the love of it. When it comes to Hydrox they brought the classes to the gym last year and I started going along. I didn’t go too many times but then the opportunity came up to go to Barcelona at the last minute for the open women's level competition last month. There wasn’t much training or nutrition in the lead up to it to be honest as initially I thought I was just going over for a holiday but ended up taking part. After competing in Dublin last November I did want to improve my time so that was a great chance to do so. I was absolutely delighted when I got over the finish line in Barcelona and found out that I had. It was also a nice surprise when I got a podium finish of third place. I’ve always just wanted to do the competition just to enjoy it and feel like I have got something out of it for myself. I wouldn't be overly competitive.” Sinead said.

Looking towards the big challenge of the World Championships in June Sinead expressed her joy at being selected and her appreciation for all the support of her community so far.

“Being invited to Chicago for the World’s is amazing. It doesn’t feel real. I woke up one morning and thought I was dreaming this was happening. I have never even been to America so this will be a great experience. This time around it will be heavier weights. If I qualified sooner then I would've had more time to train in those weights but right now I only have five weeks so the pressure is on. At the same time though I just keep telling myself to go and enjoy it and see what happens. Just try to remain positive and give it my all. My coaches in the gym have been amazing and so supportive which is so lovely. A big focus now is on my nutrition, hydration and recovery. I have been lucky enough to receive a few sponsors for the trip and I am very grateful for all their support.” she said.

To find out more about the competition you can visit hyrox.com