Urban Iron Expands Hybrid Format to LA; More Cities to Come

The race has participants running from gym to gym to complete multiple workouts — covering 8 miles in the process — as the rapidly growing brand taps local fitness communities across the U.S.

Urban Iron has gained traction as a “bar crawl for gyms,” embracing local fitness communities across major cities in its dynamic hybrid race that has participants running from gym to gym to complete a series of exercises.

The brand launched last year, with two sold out races in New York City and another in Austin.

After seeing the success of its first races — including waitlists over 400-people long — its founders Louisa Li and Jake Schonberger had big ambitions to take the event nationwide.

They did just that — Urban Iron sold out its first Chicago race this spring with 200 athletes, and is now officially entering the Los Angeles market with a planned 350-person race on October 4.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring Urban Iron to the West Coast and launch in our fourth city (and seventh race) since we started just over a year ago. LA has been on our list from the beginning because of how deep and unique the fitness culture is there,” Schonberger told Athletech News.

“Over the last several months, we’ve been talking to local run clubs, gyms, and wellness communities, and it’s been really cool to see how excited people are to help bring it to life,” he continued. “We want to make sure we’re not just bringing Urban Iron to LA, but really building it with the local community.”

The draw of Urban Iron is most certainly fueled by the hybrid fitness boom, led by Hyrox, as people crave in-person community building around wellness, especially in major cities.

“We have thousands on our waitlist from cities across the world. I think a big part of that is that people are looking for fitness experiences that feel more social and more community-driven,” Li told ATN. “The momentum behind hybrid athletic challenges is only getting stronger, and we don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.”

Each event requires athletes to run to three different fitness studios, where they complete a series of functional exercises signature to that gym or club. In LA, participants will run between Paradiso, DMN8 and Amp Association. In total, they cover about 8 miles and three major workouts in about two hours, culminating in a finisher party with cold plunges, a live DJ, fuel and brand giveaways.

Li and Schonberger revealed that the event most attracts affluent professionals ages 25 to 44 (split nearly evenly between men and women) with a penchant for fitness and actively invest in health, wellness, apparel, nutrition and lifestyle experiences.

Its key partners this year include Rivian, Create, Storm Energy, LSKD and Kane Footwear, with previous partners counting AG1, Ten Thousand, Cadence, Hyperice, David and many more.

For its fall NYC race this year, Urban Iron will have participants running between The Training Lab, The Yard Gym and True North Training to complete their workouts, before returning to the finish line party at Rivian’s Williamsburg location.

Next year, Urban Iron is planning to host races in NYC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco and Dallas, with planned expansion into San Diego, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Nashville and Denver as well.

“Every day, we hear from fitness leaders, athletes, and communities in cities asking when Urban Iron is coming to them,” Li added. “It’s exciting to see how much appetite there is for this new kind of fitness experience…and we’re just getting started.”