Former CrossFit Athlete Rich Godshall Is One of Many US Lawyers Now Racing Hyrox

• Lawyers from Philadelphia to Austin are signing up for Hyrox races, according to an October 1 profile in the ABA Journal.
• Hyrox pairs eight 1-kilometer runs with eight workout stations, and the identical course at every race lets busy professionals track their progress.
• Boston hosts a US race this weekend, and several of the lawyers profiled are training for Boston and Dallas this fall.

Why Attorneys With Full Calendars Keep Signing Up for a Race That Hurts

Rich Godshall describes himself as a non-runner, which makes his Hyrox record a little odd. The managing partner of Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers, a firm near Philadelphia, raced his first Hyrox in Dallas in 2024. A former CrossFit athlete, he has finished several races after that debut and now has Boston and Dallas on his schedule. He told the ABA Journal that the training changes how he presents himself, both as a lawyer and as a business owner.

Godshall is one of a growing group of American attorneys who have taken up the sport. The ABA Journal’s Lawyer Wellness section profiled four of them on October 1, and their stories read like a map of the US Hyrox calendar: Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Boston. Each started from a different place, and each landed in the same start corral.

What a Hyrox Race Asks of a Beginner

Hyrox launched in Germany in 2017 and bills itself as the first fitness competition for everybody. The New York Times has reported that more than 1.5 million people in 30 countries have competed in at least one race, and the ABA Journal says entrants range in age from 16 to 85. Athletech News put the 2026 total at about 1.6 million participants and projected more than 2 million in 2027.

The course never changes. Racers run eight 1-kilometer segments, 8 kilometers in all, and after each run they hit a workout station. The sequence is the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and, to finish, wall balls. Athletes can race solo, as a pair in the doubles divisions, or as part of a relay team. Hyrox listed 121 races worldwide through June, and local gyms run simulation events that the ABA Journal says sell out in minutes.

This weekend the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston hosts HYROX Boston, Thursday through Sunday, October 8 to 11. Divisions include Open, Pro, Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Relay and age-group racing. The inaugural Boston race in September 2025 drew more than 12,000 competitors, according to RoxLyfe, and Hoodline lists Chicago, Nashville and Tampa among the other US stops this season.

Four Lawyers, Four Ways In

Godshall came from CrossFit. Shannon Straughan came from the iron: a former competitive powerlifter and bodybuilder, she works as in-house counsel at Hyrox, a job she started in November, and she ran her first race in Houston in March. Her employer is the sport itself, which makes her the one lawyer in the profile with an obvious conflict of interest and the most direct view of how fast the sport is growing.

Daisy Ramirez, an associate at Ogletree Deakins in Austin, Texas, also finished her first race in Houston in March. She is training for Boston and Dallas this fall, and her preparation went beyond the gym: she drinks less alcohol and sleeps more. Ramirez told the ABA Journal that morning workouts sharpen her focus for research and drafting, which gives the training a direct line to her billable hours.

Caitlin Byczko, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis, started CrossFit while attending Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. In 2024 she went to a Chicago race to watch with her husband, Jared, who owns the gym she trains at. She co-owns a fitness and yoga studio in Indianapolis, which now offers Hyrox programming and simulation events. She has not yet raced officially, but she plans to.

Why Type A Professionals Like the Format

The ABA Journal lists several reasons lawyers gravitate to Hyrox, and they apply to anyone with a full-time job. Stress relief comes first: strength work and running give high-achievers a physical outlet. The competitive pull comes second. Hyrox offers an accessible alternative to a marathon or triathlon, and the ABA Journal says it appeals to the type A personality common in law.

Measurable progress is the third draw. With every race on the same format, a racer can compare this fall’s Boston result against last spring’s Houston time and know the course did not change underneath them. A runner chasing a marathon personal best faces weather, hills and course variation. A Hyrox athlete faces the same eight kilometers and the same eight stations in every city.

Moderate weekly training fits next to a full-time job and parenting, which is the fourth reason. Byczko and Ramirez are both mothers of 7-year-old daughters, and Byczko also has a 3-year-old son. Both say their children benefit from watching a parent chase a goal outside of work.

What Newcomers Can Take From the Lawyer Boom

The profile offers a practical entry path for a curious beginner. Godshall’s example shows that a person who dislikes running can still finish a race built around eight running segments. Byczko’s studio shows how an ordinary neighborhood business can become a Hyrox training hub by adding programming and a simulation day. A simulation, which copies the official course at a local gym, lets a first-timer rehearse the stations, learn the pacing and find out how a sled push feels before paying for an official entry.

Hyrox’s growth in professional circles also shows how the sport spreads. Straughan, Ramirez and Godshall all raced first in Dallas or Houston, two of the biggest Hyrox markets in the country, and they brought the habit back to their offices and training groups. Gym owners have noticed. Her studio is one of a rising number of boutique and CrossFit gyms that now treat Hyrox classes as a core program.

For the lawyers in the profile, the next test arrives soon. Boston is on this weekend’s calendar, and Dallas follows this fall. Whatever their finishing times, the pattern is clear: people who spend their days on deadlines are choosing a race with a fixed course, a clear finish line and a result they can compare from one city to the next.