A high school teacher from St. Thomas, Ont., has just secured her position as one of the leading Hyrox athletes globally.
Annette Barry, 60, took second place in her age category at the HYROX World Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June. The four-day event gathered top Hyrox athletes from around the world for competition.
“It was incredible,” Barry said, who has been teaching physical education at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in St. Thomas since 1991.
“[It was a] pretty cool novel experience for my 60-year-old self to be in an international competition.”
Hyrox has gained immense popularity worldwide over recent years. It blends running with fundamental functional exercises – tasks like ball throwing, lunging, and pushing sleds – all within a timed contest.
During a Hyrox race, competitors run one kilometre and then complete various functional exercises such as sled pushes or wall balls before repeating this sequence seven more times with different exercises.
Annette Barry has been teaching physical education at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in St. Thomas since 1991. (Hyrox World Championships)
Barry qualified for the event after finishing first in her age group at Canada’s national competition in Ottawa during May. After her national win, Barry wasn’t sure she would compete in Sweden due to the busy school year and an upcoming family wedding, but her family convinced her otherwise.
“My sons put a healthy amount of pressure on me to do it, and my husband was extremely supportive,” she said. She’s also received support from the fitness community at her local gym, the HIIT Crew in St. Thomas.
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London Morning7:42St. Thomas teacher takes top spot at global Hyrox competition
Hyrox tests both strength and endurance, and a St Thomas High School teacher just earned second place at the Hyrox World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. Annette Barry shared her experience competing in this exciting sport on London Morning.
Training Her Way to Success
Competitive sports aren’t new for Barry; she used to be an athlete herself playing ringette, volleyball, baseball, and hockey when she was younger. She mentioned that she started focusing more on running after having her fourth son when balancing motherhood and teaching became essential alongside exercising.
“I think just with the busyness of life, I needed to put a check mark in the win category, so I would get up in the morning and go for a run,” she said. “Those years of consistent running really paid off in the Hyrox competition.”
The advantages of exercising aren’t only physical according to her.
Hyrox competitions include 100 repetitions of deep squats and medicine ball throws. (Hyrox World Competition)
“It sets your day up for a little bit of better emotional regulation. That dopamine that you get after you exercise goes a long way energy-wise,” she explained. “After all these years it’s become a habit – once it’s part of your routine it’s like brushing your teeth.”
Together with her husband, they now have five sons; some even compete in Hyrox too! “It seems to be how we choose to have fun,” Barry remarked.
Having taught for 35 years now, Barry hopes to motivate her students towards staying active but not purely through competition or achievements.
“Not everyone is going to be the best athlete or have that driven competitive spirit,” she noted.
“I really aim to get them to realize that life-long [exercise], one hour bare minimum per day is what they need to thrive – not just physically but emotionally and mentally too – it’s probably one of the most important things they could do besides getting enough sleep every night.”
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