'I will never do a Hyrox in firefighting kit again'

Two volunteer firefighters have said completing their first Hyrox whilst wearing firefighting kit was the "hardest thing" they've ever done.

Andy Lean, 39, and Kieran Thomas, 40, from the Isle of Man wore the 22lb (10kg) kit, during the Hyrox Pro Doubles, an 8km (5 mile) run alongside exercises with kettlebells, lunges and rowing to "make it harder".

Kieran said he struggled with the heat whilst wearing the full kit during the indoor-staged Hyrox in Manchester, adding that despite his profession, he had "never known heat like it".

"I will never do that in firefighting kit again," he said. "It might be nice to do it in a pair of shorts."

The pair, who volunteer at the Castletown and Malew Fire Station, trained for the event at a friend's gym in Ballasalla and raised money for the island's mental health charity, Isle Listen.

They said the downsides of their job was experiencing calls that had "affected the mental health of the fire station" and in the community, and they wanted to give something back.

Kieran admitted the pair got a few funny looks from fellow Hyrox competitors at the event at Manchester's GMEX centre, but once they were off - the support pushed them through.

He said: "We questioned ourselves quite early on, we were thinking 'why have we done this in firekit?'

"Other participants were asking the same.

"But the support is what got us through, every person that ran past us and everyone in the crowd were supporting us."

Andy, who has worked for the island fire service for 13 years, said wearing the kit brought unique challenges due to its heat retention and weight.

"The weight difference from start to finish probably doubles in weight as we were sweating through the race."

He said the pair did not set out with a time frame to complete the tough challenge by, but admitted it was difficult to hold back.

"I was nervous about going in too hot and burning out, so we kept a good pace and tried not to be influenced by others," he said.

"But it was quite restraining as we're both so competitive, we wanted to keep up but had to consider our own limits with the kit on."

Kieran said the heat inside the venue, whilst wearing the kit was "unreal".

"It was just pure heat, we couldn't get it off quicker when we crossed the line," he said.

Once they crossed the line in one hour and 35 minutes, Kieran and Andy had raised nearly £1,600 for Isle Listen and once the kit was off, the pair went to celebrate at the pub before a restful spa day in Manchester.

Andy said he may take "a few months" to think about whether he wanted to do the event again whilst Kieran said he would like to, if he left his work uniform at home.

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