Karate black belt grandmother, 71, ranks third in Hyrox World Championships and is dubbed ‘Super Gran’

A 71-year-old grandmother has described how she loves to inspire others by carrying out gruelling Hyrox challenges, recently competing at the World Championships.

Carole Munro, from Turriff, in Aberdeenshire, has always led a very active lifestyle, playing squash and practising judo and karate – in which she has a black belt.

A keen kayaker and regular sea swimmer, she has also taken part in triathlons and twice completed the Etape Loch Ness cycle event.

Despite having a series of hip operations in recent years, she decided to have a go at Hyrox after a suggestion from her son.

Described as fitness racing, Hyrox combines running with workout stations including exercises like sled pull, sandbag lunges, wall balls and burpee broad jumps. Participants run 1km, then carry out a workout station, repeating the process eight times to complete the circuit.

Each race is hosted inside a large venue such as an exhibition hall, creating what organisers describe as an “immersive and electrifying race”.

The format is the same around the world, meaning there are global leaderboards and world championships which pitch competitors against one another.

Since being established in Germany in 2017, its popularity has risen rapidly with thousands of athletes taking part every year.

Carole got into Hyrox after her son Stuart Amory, a personal trainer, started doing it and suggested she give it a try.

That was in 2023, and since then Carole has taken part in the Hyrox doubles with Stuart in London in May 2024.

The pair, dubbed “Super Dad” and “Super Gran”, completed the course in an impressive one hour and 30 minutes.

With Stuart’s encouragement, she then set her sights on the Hyrox singles competition, and in November 2024 she competed at ExCel London.

And while there, to her own surprise, she qualified for the 2025 Hyrox World Championships in Chicago, which took place in June, where she finished in third place in her age category.

But before heading to Chicago, she also decided to squeeze in another Hyrox event in Glasgow in March.

The former Army driver has vowed to carry on until she turns 76 – when one of her grandchildren will be old enough to compete with her in Hyrox doubles.

Carole explained how she had previously worked out at the F45 gym Stuart works at in Surbiton, south-west London, when she visited him.

“I’ve kind of always been a sporty person,” she told PA Real Life.

“Every time I went down babysitting the grandchildren, or on holiday, I always went and trained with him.

“He phoned me up one day and said, ‘Mum, do you fancy doing a competition?’

“And I went, ‘Yeah, whatever’. So I Googled it. I thought it was High Rock – I thought it’s climbing. When I finally found out what it was, I went, ‘Oh, great’.”

Carole said that although she had worked out locally near her home in Scotland, she realised that ahead of her first Hyrox she “had to up (her) game”.

She said of Stuart: “He taught me how to lift the weights properly, because I had been lifting them, but not really correctly. His training classes made me realise I needed to do this properly.

“Because Stuart’s a personal trainer, I decided to get one up in Scotland, which I never thought I would do. But I’ve benefited from that.”

The hard work paid off: Carole placed third in the Hyrox World Championships for the 70 to 74 age group, and she is keen to continue.

Carole, who has three sons and four grandchildren, plans to compete in more Hyrox competitions, with a goal of doing them until she turns 76 when she can compete in one with her granddaughter.

She joked: “I’ve allegedly said that I’m going to do it with his (Stuart’s) daughter. When she will be 16, I’ve said I’ll do doubles with her.”

Asked about how many others of her age take part, she said: “My other son said, ‘Mum, there’s a reason why 70-year-olds are not competing at Hyrox, you know’.

“The people coming up now in the 60s age group – they are fit. They’re really fit. I think there’s only six in my age group – 70 to 74.

“There’s very few. I mean, I think I’m the oldest one in Scotland. There’s a couple in England.”

Carole said it was incredibly inspiring to meet so many impressive athletes of all ages at the World Championships.

She said: “I spoke to Joanna Wietrzyk. She’s top just now. She was just amazed at my age. She said: ‘If I can be still training at your age, I’ll be well chuffed’.

“I spoke to Megan (Jacoby), another top world athlete, and I remember getting my photo with her.

“I was training with the top. It was amazing to be with these athletes, and people kept saying: ‘You’re an inspiration, because you’re still going’.”

Carole said before her Hyrox journey she had taken part in triathlons and the Etape Loch Ness cycle event, a 66-mile event which begins at the famous loch and finishes in Inverness.

“I did that, and then I did it again the next year, and I knocked off another half an hour.

“I’m quite competitive,” she added with a laugh.

But, she said, her love of exercise was halted after she began to have hip problems a few years ago.

“After my hips went I got really depressed,” she said. “I sold my motorbike. I sold my kayak. I really was low, and then I got my hip done, and then I picked up again.”

Carole has also been a regular sea swimmer since 2017, taking the plunge in the icy waters of the North Sea once a week, and sometimes more.

She swims with a group of ladies who call themselves the Sea Birds, and she said sea swimming has also helped her with the Hyrox.

She said: “I still go in and think, ‘Whose idea was this?’. But see, once you go in, it just gives you a boost. I can’t explain it… It’s one of the best therapies.”

After a Hyrox race, “a nice swim in the sea was a life saver”, Carole added.

“That’s how I recover. I go to the sea. I walk. After Chicago, obviously it was quite an in-depth competition. Stuart got me walking and I think that kept me going.”

Carole posts about her training on her Instagram account, where she goes by @Scottish_supergran.

She’s found she has inspired many others to take part in Hyrox events, particularly women, and feels her determination shows that age can be just a number – anything is possible with the right mindset and support.

“I’ve realised the most important thing is inspiring others. I think people look at me and think I’m completely nuts,” she smiled.