How a Former 400-Meter Hurdler Became One of Hyrox’s Rising Americans

• Gabe Piepergerdes, a former Division I 400-meter hurdler who now coaches at ICONIX Fitness in Long Beach, California, finished fifth and fourth in his first two Hyrox Pro singles races this month.
• His results in Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City lifted him from 127th to a provisional 95th in the Hyrox elite points rankings.
• He built his base over two years of doubles racing with partner Caleb Green, and analysts say his wall balls are the main gap between him and the sport’s top tier.

A Sprinter’s Engine in an Eight-Kilometer Race

Gabe Piepergerdes sums up his training philosophy in six words on his trainer bio at ICONIX Fitness in Long Beach, California: “Hybrid: run fast and lift heavy.” The former college hurdler describes himself in three words on the same page: “Outgoing. Organized. Ambitious.”

This month the barriers took the form of sleds, sandbags and 100 wall balls. Piepergerdes made his Hyrox Pro singles debut in Washington, D.C. in early September and finished fifth in 55:26. Two weeks later he raced again at the first Hyrox event in Salt Lake City and placed fourth in 57:20, behind winner Greyson Kilgore, Stephen Pelkofer and Jack Driscoll. Across those two races he finished ahead of established names including Rich Ryan, Colin Stiefer and Driscoll, who sits inside the sport’s top ten.

BOXROX analyst Paul Reynolds flagged him in a weekend roundup as one of the season’s new faces, noting that Piepergerdes had climbed to a provisional 95th in the elite points rankings from 127th. Reynolds also pointed to the one station holding him back: his wall balls run 45 to 60 seconds slower than the leaders’. “It’s clear that nothing more than time and specific training separates him from the top tier of the sport,” Reynolds wrote.

From Holy Cross Track to Long Beach Gym Floors

Piepergerdes grew up in Westfield, Massachusetts, and ran sprints at the College of the Holy Cross. His specialty was the 400-meter hurdle race, one of the most punishing events in track: a full lap at close to top speed with ten barriers in the way. He scored in that event at the Patriot League championships three times, placing fifth in 2018, fourth in 2019 and second in 2021. As a sophomore he won it at the IC4A Outdoor Championships, the first individual IC4A title for a Holy Cross athlete in nearly 50 years. He added a New England outdoor title in 2021 in 52.14 seconds and left with the school’s outdoor record in his event and the indoor 4×400-meter relay record.

He then spent a graduate year competing for the University of Michigan. On his ICONIX profile he lists that stretch as the achievement he values most: “Running Division I track and field while earning two college degrees.”

A 400-meter hurdler trains for an effort that lasts under a minute. Hyrox asks for close to an hour. The race combines eight one-kilometer runs with eight workout stations in a fixed order:

• 1,000-meter SkiErg
• 50-meter sled push
• 50-meter sled pull
• 80 meters of burpee broad jumps
• 1,000-meter row
• 200-meter farmers carry
• 100 meters of sandbag lunges
• 100 wall balls

Sprinters bring leg power to the sled stations and quick turnover to the runs. The hard part is aerobic capacity, the ability to hold a strong pace for 60 minutes, and the muscular endurance to throw a medicine ball to a target 100 times with legs that have already covered seven kilometers.

Two Years of Doubles Before Going Solo

Piepergerdes did not arrive in the Pro field overnight. Race records on HYRESULT show his first Hyrox came at Anaheim in 2024, where he finished the open men’s race in 1:05:30. From there he spent most of two seasons racing doubles, which lets two athletes run every kilometer together and split the station work.

His main partner has been Caleb Green. The pair raced Anaheim twice, the 2025 North American Championships in Washington, where they clocked 50:58, and the 2025 World Championships in Chicago. They finished tenth in the elite men’s doubles at the 2026 Americas Championships in 52:57 and posted 51:10 in the Pro doubles at the 2026 World Championships in Stockholm. Piepergerdes also races mixed doubles with Brittany Weiss, including at New York and Stockholm this year and again in Salt Lake City, where he went back out a day after his solo race.

That doubles apprenticeship is a common route for athletes coming from other sports. A partner can cover a weak station while a newcomer learns pacing, transitions and the rules on wall ball depth and lunge form. It also gives a runner or lifter race-day reps without the full solo load. Reynolds noted that Piepergerdes stayed “hidden somewhat in the doubles” until this fall.

For anyone thinking about the same move, the numbers on his record offer a rough guide. He took about two years and roughly ten races to go from a 65-minute open finish to a sub-56-minute Pro debut. Open division races use lighter sleds, sandbags and wall balls than the Pro division, and most first-timers start there. A doubles or relay entry lets a pair or a team of four split the workload.

What Comes Next for a Southern California Racer

Piepergerdes is one of several former college track athletes testing themselves in the U.S. Pro field this fall. At the same D.C. event, former college middle-distance runner Esther Seeland made her own Pro singles debut after winning the open category in New York earlier this year.

Hyrox has also moved closer to home for Southern California athletes. The fall North American calendar includes Boston in October, Dallas in November and Anaheim from Dec. 3 to 6, the same city where Piepergerdes raced his first Hyrox two years ago. More elite points will be on the table there, and so will a chance to close the gap on the wall balls in front of a hometown crowd from the Long Beach gym where he coaches.

His ICONIX profile lists one big dream, and it has nothing to do with rankings: “To become the world’s greatest dad.” For now, the man who once cleared barriers for a living has a new set of obstacles to work through, one kilometer at a time.

Follow more race coverage in our Hyrox section.