The men in the starting line at Hyrox in Berlin in April practically hummed with nervous enthusiasm. A booming voice intoned a rallying cry, “This is the moment you’ve been training for!” Lights twinkled. For the founders of the fitness race Hyrox, Christian Toetzke, 55, and Moritz Furste, 39, this kind of kitschy spectacle was always part of the plan. The original brief, when they introduced the race in Hamburg, Germany in 2017, was “to create an event that is a 200,000-euro (about $214,000) production that looks like a 2,000,000-euro ($2,144,000) production,” Mr. Furste said. Hyrox’s “modern entertainment and light effects create a very special feeling,” Mr. Toetzke said, one that he hopes will create a “new proposition for mass participation events.”

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Persons: Christian Toetzke, Moritz Furste, ” Mr, Furste, Hyrox’s, Mr, Toetzke, ” Locations: Hyrox, Berlin, Hamburg, Germany