How to run a partner fitness race at your gym

Design the blocks

Four to six stations, a fixed time on each, a short changeover between.

Pick four to six stations that score easily: ergs (calories or metres), a sled (lengths), burpees or wall balls (reps), shuttle runs (lengths). Give each a fixed block of time, often 6 to 10 minutes, with a few minutes between blocks to move and recover.

The pair shares the work however they like: you-go-I-go, alternating sets, or one working while the other rests. All that counts is the team's total in the block.

On HRP you build the format yourself: each station scored by reps, calories, metres or watts in its own time window, and the team ranked on its total score. See how it works

Pick a date and a slot

An evening or weekend slot with music and food works best.

Partner races suit an evening or a Saturday afternoon. Plan the room as much as the workout: music, somewhere to watch from, food and drink afterwards.

Set up one lane per team at every station

Teams rotate through the stations together, so every station needs a lane per team in a heat.

Heats move round the stations as a group, so each station needs as many lanes as there are teams in a heat. Your scarcest kit (often bikes or a sled) sets the heat size. Mark each lane clearly with a number that matches the team.

Set team categories and open bookings

Men's, women's and mixed pairs; both partners book and sign.

Offer men's, women's and mixed pairs, and a beginner and advanced level if you expect a range of abilities. One partner books the team and the other joins with a link, so you know both names, both waivers and who has paid.

On HRP team places book together, each partner signs their own waiver, and payments go into your own Stripe account. See how it works

Collect a waiver from both partners

Every athlete signs, with a guardian for under-18s.

Both members of a pair sign their own waiver at booking. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign.

Run the clock and the changeovers

One clock for the whole room, a clear start and stop for every block.

Use one big interval timer everyone can see, with a countdown to the start of each block and a clear stop. Changeovers need a marshal moving teams to the next station on time; a late changeover pushes every block after it.

Record each team's score

A judge or station lead enters the total at the end of every block.

At the end of each block the judge on that lane enters the team's reps, calories or metres. Ergs show the number on the screen; reps and lengths need a judge counting.

With HRP each judge opens a link on their phone and enters the team's score for the block. The team total and the leaderboard update straight away. See how it works

Put the leaderboard on the big screen

Totals after every block keep the room watching.

Show the standings after every block. Teams near the top push harder in the last blocks, and spectators have something to follow.

Make it an event

Music, a host on the mic and somewhere to hang around after.

Much of what makes partner races popular is the atmosphere: a playlist, someone on the mic calling out close races, and food and drink afterwards. It is what gets people booking the next one.

Publish results the same night

Every team's block-by-block scores, out before they get home.

Publish the final standings and each team's scores per station the same evening, then announce the next date.