Build the engine
Three runs a week, one of them long and slow. Everything in this format is downstream of your ability to keep running after your legs are tired. Nothing else you do matters as much.
The Standard — v4.1
The format
Eight kilometres of running, split by eight work stations, against one continuous clock. Published in full, free to read, and identical in every chapter on earth. Nothing here is behind a paywall or a membership tier.
01 — Structure
Run one. Work one. Repeat eight times.
The order never changes. You always run before you work, and the clock does not stop between them — transitions are part of your time.
01
SkiErg
Double-pole ergometer. Handles must return above head height each stroke.
1,000 m
after 1 km run
after 1 km run
02
Sled Push
Sled crosses the far line in full. No riding, no throwing the finish.
50 m
4 × 12.5 m lanes
4 × 12.5 m lanes
03
Sled Pull
Rope hand-over-hand from inside the box. Feet stay behind the line.
50 m
4 × 12.5 m lanes
4 × 12.5 m lanes
04
Burpee Broad Jump
Chest and thighs touch the floor. Two-foot take-off, two-foot landing.
80 m
continuous lane
continuous lane
05
Row
Seated ergometer. Damper is your choice; the distance is not.
1,000 m
after 1 km run
after 1 km run
06
Farmers Carry
One kettlebell per hand. Set down where you like — the clock keeps running.
200 m
2 × 100 m
2 × 100 m
07
Sandbag Lunges
Bag on the shoulders. Trailing knee makes contact with the floor each rep.
100 m
2 × 50 m
2 × 50 m
08
Wall Balls
Hip crease below knee at the bottom. Ball hits the target on every rep.
75 / 100 reps
by division
by division
Total running distance: 8 km. Judges call no-reps on standard, never on speed. Every standard on this page is public precisely so that no chapter can invent a stricter or looser version for its own members.
02 — Divisions
Seven ways in. None of them lesser.
Divisions exist so the standard can meet different bodies and different starting points — not to sort people into a first and second class. Every division is ranked, recorded and awarded the same way.
Open
The default entry. Standard sled loads, wall-ball target at 9 ft / 10 ft, 75 reps. If you have never done this before, this is your division.
Solo75 wall balls
Pro
Heavier sleds, heavier carries, 100 wall balls. Qualification is by a published Open time, not by invitation, sponsorship or who you know.
Solo100 wall balls
Doubles
Two athletes, one clock. Both run every kilometre; stations are split however you choose between you. Any pairing, any combination.
2 athletesSplit stations
Relay
Four athletes take two segments each. The most common first entry for people who are certain they cannot do this. They can.
4 athletes2 segments each
Adaptive
Seated, ambulant, visually impaired and neurodivergent categories, each with published equivalence standards. Same course, same board, same medal — ranked in its own category, never as a footnote to another.
Equal standing4 categories
Masters
Five-year age bands from 40 upward, with no upper limit. Our oldest recorded finisher is 79.
40+5-yr bands
Youth
Ages 12–17 on a scaled 4 km course with reduced loads. Free entry at every event, everywhere, with no exceptions and no paperwork beyond consent.
12–17Always free
03 — Training
How people actually prepare
You do not need a specialist gym, a coach, or equipment you don't own. The majority of A-ROK members train with running, bodyweight work, and whatever their chapter has access to.
Learn the transitions
The clock is won and lost in the ninety seconds after you come off a station. Practise moving straight from work back into a run — most people lose more time here than anywhere on the course.
Compromise your running
Run 1 km. Do 50 wall balls. Run 1 km again. That second kilometre is the whole event in miniature, and it's the single most useful session you can do.
Turn up on Saturday
Your chapter session is the training plan. It's free, it's supervised, and it is the same eight stations you'll meet on race day. Consistency beats programming.
Get the training guide
A 12-week plan built for people with no equipment and no background in this. Free PDF, no account needed, in eleven languages.
Put it into practice
Reading it is easy.
Saturday is the hard part.
There is a chapter near you running this exact session on Saturday. Turn up once and the format stops being a document.