Most of what goes wrong on a simulation day is kit: a wall ball split in the warm-up, a sled with the wrong plates, a judge’s phone at 4%, a run loop that turns out to be 870 m. None of it is hard to prevent, but it has to be on a list.
This checklist works station by station, then covers the floor, the run loop, timing, first aid, signage and judges. It is a planning aid, not safety or medical advice; your own risk assessment and your insurer’s conditions come first.
SimDay is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by HYROX or DEKA (Spartan).
Start with lanes
Everything scales with lanes. A lane is one athlete’s, pair’s or team’s set of equipment for the whole race, so if you run four lanes you need four of everything at every station, plus spares. If you only have two sleds, you have two lanes at the sled, and that station sets your start interval. The heat planning guide covers how lanes and the interval fit together.
Write the list as lanes × one lane’s kit, then add spares. Loads are per division and are your decision; set them in SimDay and print them on the judge sheets rather than relying on memory.
Station-by-station kit
| Station | Per lane | Spares and small kit | Set-up check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run | Cones or flags for the loop | Lap counter, tape for the lap line | Loop measured twice, entry and exit marked |
| Rowing erg | One rower | Spare monitor batteries, wipes | Drag factor checked, monitor reset |
| Ski erg | One ski erg | Spare batteries | Drag factor checked, secured to floor or stand |
| Sled push | Sled, plates for every division load | Tape for start and turn lines, chalk | Surface tested, loads labelled |
| Sled pull | Sled, rope, plates | Spare rope | Rope length and athlete box marked |
| Burpee broad jumps | Clear lane | Tape for start, finish and lane edges | Lane length measured |
| Farmers carry | Pair of kettlebells or handles per division | Spare pair at the most-used load | Turn cones placed |
| Sandbag lunges | Sandbag per division | One spare sandbag | Seams checked, lane measured |
| Wall balls | Ball per division, target | One spare ball per weight | Target heights marked and measured |
| Air bike | One bike | Spare batteries | Monitor set to the right unit |
| Box jump overs | One box | Spare box if possible | Box stable, height set |
| Kettlebell swings | Kettlebell per division | Spare at the most-used load | Clear space behind the athlete |
| Ball sit-ups | Ball, mat | Spare ball | Target or touch point agreed |
| Dead ball over shoulder | Ball per division, bar or rack | Spare ball | Ball surface checked for splits |
Two notes on ergs. Concept2 explains that damper settings are not comparable between machines; a 6 on one erg may be a 4 on another, depending on things like air temperature and how clean the flywheel is. The monitor’s drag factor is the comparable number, found under More Options, then Display Drag Factor. If you want lanes to feel the same, check each erg’s drag factor before the event rather than setting every damper to the same number.
Write the movement standard for each station on its sign as well as on the judge sheet. The station standards guide has the wording.
Layout and floor space
Draw the floor before you move anything. A rough sketch on squared paper, to scale, catches most problems.
- Sled lanes first. They are the longest and least flexible. Measure each lane, add space at both ends for the turn and for the judge, and test the surface with a loaded sled; some floors are much faster than others.
- Run entry and exit. Mark one way out to the loop and one way back in, and keep them apart. Wodify’s case study (vendor content) reports that after its first sim, Sisu Fitness listed clearer run entry and exit points, better station signage and sled set-up as the things to fix.
- Station order follows the route. Athletes should never cross another lane to reach the next station.
- Call-up and warm-up areas away from the start line, so the next heat is ready without crowding the floor.
- A spectator line marked with tape, with the TV placed on the spectator side.
- Clear routes to every exit and to the first-aid point, kept clear all day.
Measuring the run loop
Use a measuring wheel. Push it along the line runners will actually take, hugging the inside of corners as they will, and measure twice. If the two readings differ, measure a third time.
Then make the race distance a whole number of laps and mark the lap point. A 250 m loop four times is 1 km; for US athletes, 1 km is 0.621 mi, so a 1 km run is about 0.62 mi. If your loop goes outside, check it for kerbs, drains and traffic, and put a marshal at any crossing.
Timing kit
| Item | How many | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Judge phones | One per working lane plus one spare | Automatic date and time on, brightness up, charged |
| Power banks and cables | One per two judges | Mixed connector types |
| Organiser device | One | Starts each heat; keep it plugged in |
| TV or monitor | One, or one per viewing area | HDMI input |
| Laptop or streaming device | One per TV | Runs the TV board in a browser |
| HDMI cable and extension leads | One each per TV, plus a spare | Tape cables down |
| Mobile hotspot | One | Fallback internet for the TV device |
| Printed judge and heat sheets | One per judge, plus start-line copies | The backup if a phone dies |
Gym Wi-Fi often struggles when every athlete and spectator is on it. SimDay queues taps on the judge’s phone when there is no connection and sends them when it returns, so judges keep tapping in judge mode rather than troubleshooting. The TV device is the one to protect: put it on a phone hotspot if the gym Wi-Fi is unreliable. The judging guide covers clocks and dropouts in more detail.
First aid
In Great Britain, HSE says the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not require employers to provide first aid for members of the public, but strongly recommends including the public in your first-aid needs assessment and making provision for them. A sim with non-members racing is exactly that case.
On kit, HSE says what goes in a first-aid box should follow your needs assessment, and points to kits made to the British Standard BS 8599-1 as one option. It also says health and safety law does not require an automated external defibrillator (AED); if your gym has one, make sure every judge knows where it is.
HSE’s event guidance says you must have plans for incidents and emergencies, in proportion to the risk. For a gym sim that means, at minimum:
- A named first-aider on the floor for the whole event, not racing.
- A first-aid point everyone can find, with water and somewhere to sit or lie down.
- Who calls the emergency services, and the address and access route written down.
- A clear route for an ambulance crew from the door to the floor.
Outside Great Britain, check your local requirements and your insurer’s conditions.
Signage, lane tape and judge kit
Signage: one sign per station with its name, the standard and the load per division; lane numbers at every station; run-out and run-in arrows; a sign for the call-up area; and the first-aid point.
Lane tape and marking: tape for start and finish lines, sled turn lines, lunge and broad-jump lane edges and the spectator line. Use a contrasting colour for lines athletes must cross completely.
Judge kit: charged phone with the judge page open, printed judge or rep sheet, clipboard and pen, something that marks them as a judge (a bib or lanyard), and a short card with the no-rep calls for their station.
The morning-of check
- Walk the run loop and confirm the lap point and the marshal positions.
- Load every sled and check the plates match the division labels.
- Check every erg’s drag factor and reset the monitors.
- Test the TV board on the hotspot as well as the gym Wi-Fi.
- Have every judge open the judge page, confirm automatic time is on, and tap a test split.
- Confirm the first-aider, the first-aid point and the emergency route.
- Lay out spares at a single kit table that the floor manager controls.
Then build your heats, print the judge and heat sheets, and run the day from SimDay, free during the beta.