Hallmark Actor Travis Van Winkle Finishes First Hyrox in Salt Lake City

• Hallmark Channel actor Travis Van Winkle posted on October 5 about finishing his first Hyrox race in Salt Lake City with his best friend, Lauren Donohue.
• The race took place at Utah’s first Hyrox weekend, which drew roughly 16,000 competitors to the Salt Palace Convention Center from September 18 to 20.
• Van Winkle plans to enter the Men’s Open Singles division in February and says he will share some of his training with followers.

A Birthday Present That Turned Into a Fitness Race

Travis Van Winkle picked an unusual way to celebrate his best friend’s birthday. The Hallmark Channel regular, who also appeared in Netflix’s “FUBAR,” entered his first Hyrox race in Salt Lake City with Lauren Donohue, then posted photos and video of the day on Instagram on October 5. He called the event a “fun-ish kind of hell” he and Donohue chose voluntarily, said he felt mildly satisfied with their finish, and described the result as a “solid first swing.” Neither his post nor the entertainment coverage of it listed a finish time.

The pictures show two friends in matching hats printed with the face of his dog, Karen, and a lot of smiling for people in the middle of a race. Followers noticed his build more than his pacing. One commenter told him he looked like an AI-generated person, a joke that spread quickly through the replies. The more useful detail sits at the end of the caption: Van Winkle says his next race is Men’s Open Singles in February, and he plans to bring followers along for part of the training.

The entertainment coverage did not say which day the pair raced. The Utah debut ran Friday through Sunday, September 18 to 20, so his post arrived about two weeks after the final heat. For readers curious about Hyrox, that gap is part of the appeal. A first race can sit in the back of a racer’s mind for weeks before the story finds words.

What a First-Time Racer Signs Up For

Hyrox alternates eight 1-kilometer runs with eight workout stations, so every racer covers 8 kilometers of running and eight movements in a fixed order. The order runs SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls. The sled push and pull each cover 50 meters, the burpee broad jumps cover 80 meters, the farmers carry covers 200 meters, and the sandbag lunges cover 100 meters. Wall balls finish the race at 75 to 100 repetitions, depending on division.

The format never changes from city to city. A racer in Salt Lake City can compare a time with one posted in Boston or Hamburg, and a first-timer knows exactly what the day holds before the gate opens. Divisions include Open, Pro, Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Relay and age-group categories. In Doubles, both partners run the full 8 kilometers together and split the stations however they choose. Coverage of Van Winkle’s race did not say which division he and Donohue entered.

A partner changes the experience more than any other choice a newcomer makes. Kynzie Atkinson, a Utah racer who planned to enter women’s doubles pro, told KSL she and her friend intended to run every kilometer side by side and divide the stations between them. A birthday race with a best friend fits that approach well: the friend sets the pace, and nobody finishes alone.

Utah’s First Hyrox Weekend

The Salt Lake City race was Hyrox’s first event in Utah, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center at 90 South West Temple. KSL reported roughly 16,000 competitors across the three days, and the same course served elite athletes, everyday racers and first-timers. A Youngstars division for ages 8 to 15 ran alongside the adult heats.

Local racers described a crowd that came for the atmosphere as much as the clock. Brooke Knudson told KSL the energy in the building was unmatched. Barry and Alyssa Beveridge said social media introduced them to Hyrox, and Alyssa said the sport welcomes anyone willing to try. Another racer, identified only as Muscat, said the movements need little technique, which lowers the barrier for people who have never touched a barbell. The same report noted that pacing and endurance still decide how a race feels in the last 2 kilometers.

Utah gyms had a head start on that crowd. VASA Fitness announced Hyrox training spaces at 10 locations ahead of the Utah and Colorado debuts, and the weekend gave members somewhere to test what they had practiced on turf and rowing machines.

What February Asks of a First-Timer

Men’s Open Singles removes the partner. One athlete covers all eight stations and all 8 kilometers with nobody to hand a sled to, and the Open division uses the standard weights and the full wall ball count. A kilometer run follows each of the first seven stations, so legs that just pushed a loaded sled have to turn over again within seconds.

That is why a public training block carries value for newcomers. When a recognizable name posts a 12-week build, a viewer gets a template: how many runs a week, when the sled work starts, how the long Sunday session fits around a job. Van Winkle has not announced a coach or a plan, so the shape of his build is still unknown. Followers who want to copy it will have to wait for the first post.

Where Hyrox Goes Next in the United States

Salt Lake City was one of four new markets on the North American fall calendar, alongside Tampa, Denver and Nashville. Boston ran its second annual weekend from October 8 to 11, and Tampa follows in late October. Nashville’s first race arrives in December.

The numbers explain the expansion. SportsPro reports that Hyrox grew from 570,000 competitors in the 2024-25 season to 1.5 million in 2025-26, while the number of races rose from 74 to 105. RoxLyfe reported that participation in US Hyrox events grew by more than 300 percent year over year heading into the 2025-26 season. Celebrity entries such as Van Winkle’s add reach, but the 16,000 ordinary racers in Salt Lake City carry the growth.

Fans will see Van Winkle in a different setting first. His Hallmark film “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True,” with Lacey Chabert, premieres November 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern. After that, the next time he appears in a race bib, he will have a full training block behind him and an audience watching the build.