75-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Qualifies for World Championship

When Annie Reid walked into E3 Fitness in Suffolk three years ago, she had one simple goal: get fit enough to run 2 kilometers. Today, at 75, the mother of four and breast cancer survivor is preparing to compete against the world's best at the HYROX World Championships in Stockholm.

HYROX combines running with functional fitness exercises like wall balls, burpee broad jumps, and rowing. It's grueling enough for elite athletes half Annie's age.

But last December, Annie entered her first HYROX competition in London with no expectations beyond crossing the finish line. She finished in the top 0.5% of all competitors and took first place in her age category with a time of 2:11:56.

"I'd entered purely to complete it, not to compete," Annie says. "My only goal was to get to the finish line."

Days later, an email arrived informing her she'd qualified for the World Championships. Annie thought it was a mistake.

Her personal trainers, Dave and Vicky Edwards, saw it differently. They reminded her she'd already proven she could handle the distance and the challenge.

Annie's secret wasn't complicated. She trained just two days a week at the gym, complemented by two Pilates classes for mobility. She gradually increased her weights and running distances, using the NHS Couch to 5K app before moving to treadmill work.

"I never felt like I can't do this," she reflects. "By December, I was where I needed to be."

On race day, Annie broke everything into manageable chunks. She focused on pacing herself through the 8km of running, counting 100 meters at a time on the rower and 10 pulls on the SkiErg.

"You don't eat an elephant in one go, you break it into manageable pieces," she explains.

Why This Inspires

Annie's journey shows that starting small can lead to extraordinary places. She didn't set out to become a world championship competitor. She just wanted to feel stronger and healthier.

Sport has been part of Annie's life since childhood, when she played competitive tennis as a teenager. But it wasn't until her 70s that she truly understood the mental benefits of consistent movement.

"I realized you don't need to do two or three hours of training at a time," she says. "If you train in a targeted way, you can still get that feeling."

Now Annie has discovered something else: the power of showing up consistently, putting training sessions in her diary, and trusting that small, steady progress adds up.

On June 20th, after competing in Stockholm, Annie will join the locals celebrating Midsummer with dancing, strawberries, and new potatoes under the golden light of the longest day of the year. She'll have earned every moment of that celebration.