Race day asks a lot of a bag. Doing it twice in one week asks even more.
I raced HYROX twice in three days. The first time on my own, and the second as a pair with my sister-in-law, Erika. If you've done one of these fitness races, you know it's a long day: hours at the venue, a warm-up, the race itself, and then the slow, happy, exhausted bit afterwards where you'd give anything for someone else to carry your stuff.
Nobody else carries your stuff. So the bag matters more than you'd think. Both days, everything I needed went in one duffle bag, the Flex 27L Convertible Duffle. Here's what I packed, how it carried, and why it's become my bag for far more than race day.
What race day actually asks you to carry
It's more than people expect. For each race I had:
- my race gear, plus a backup top
- nutrition for before and after: gels, a bar, electrolytes and a water bottle
- my phone, charger and earbuds, which you really don't want rattling around loose
- two towels, one for during and one for after
- a full change of clothes for the drive home
- and by the end, a pile of sweaty, wet clothes and shoes that had to go somewhere
That last one is the real test of a gym bag. Getting everything there is easy. Getting it all home without the clean things smelling like the race is the hard part.
How it all fitted
The main compartment took the clean things: change of clothes, towels and nutrition, with room to spare. The phone, keys and charger went in the quick-access pocket on the outside, so I wasn't digging past a towel every time I wanted to check the start times. There's a key hook inside too, which sounds like nothing until you've lost your car key in the bottom of a bag at a packed venue.
The part I didn't expect to love is the small compartment at the base. It's separate from the main section, and it became home for the sweatiest pieces I raced in. They were out of the way and kept apart from everything clean.
For the wet shoes, I used our Travel Laundry Bag. Shoes go in, cinch the top, and it sits in the duffle without making the rest of the bag damp. Between the base compartment and the laundry bag, nothing clean touched anything that had been on a rower. If you're looking for a gym bag with a shoe compartment, that combination does the job better than most single-purpose bags I've used.
Three ways to carry it, and I used all three
This is the thing I'd tell anyone choosing a bag for an event like this. The Flex carries three ways, and over a long day you want every one of them.
The handles, for short hops. The two grab handles come together over the top, so for a quick move between the warm-up area and the bag drop, I just picked it up and went. No straps to sort out.
The shoulder strap, arriving. Walking in from the car park, fresh and full of nervous energy, the padded shoulder strap was the easy choice. It's comfortable, quick to swing on, and it keeps a hand free for a coffee.
The backpack straps, afterwards. This is where it earned its place. After the race, tired and sore, the last thing I wanted was all that weight on one shoulder. The backpack straps tuck away in their own pocket when you don't need them. I pulled them out, put the bag on my back, and walked out with the weight spread evenly. A convertible duffle sounds like a small feature until you're carrying it after a race.
Left: by the handles, between stations. Right: backpack straps out, on the way home.
A duffle that turns into a backpack sounds like a small thing, right up until you're carrying it out after a race.
Two hard days, three days apart
Race days are tough on gear. The bag gets dropped on concrete, shoved under benches, packed wet, unpacked in a hurry and packed wet again. I did that twice in three days, and the Flex looked the same at the end of the second race as it did at the start of the first. The stitching, the zips and the straps all held up.
Race two, the doubles with Erika. Left: on the rower. Right: done, and still smiling.
The fabric helps a lot. It's water-resistant, so damp towels and sweaty gear don't soak through, and it wipes clean afterwards. (If yours needs more than a wipe, our care guide covers how to clean a bag properly without ruining it.)
Quality without the big-brand price tag
A lot of gym bags at this level of build are sold mostly on the name, with the price to match. What I like about the Flex is that it's genuinely well made: solid stitching, good zips and straps that feel built to last, without paying extra for a logo. It's the kind of bag you'd expect to cost a lot more than it does.
Not just for race day
Since the races, it's become my bag for almost everything. Gym sessions, obviously. Weekends away, where the backpack straps make train stations and airports easy. A night at a friend's place, the beach, and Saturday sport, with snacks, a jumper and muddy boots zipped away in the laundry bag. It comfortably fits a laptop alongside everything else, so it handles an overnight work trip too. It's a gym bag, a weekender bag and an overnight bag in one. The races just proved it could handle the hardest version of all of those. It isn't cut for one kind of person, either. In plain black, it works just as well as a men's gym bag as it does for me.
Quick answers
What should I pack for a fitness race?
Race gear and a spare top, nutrition and water, your phone and charger, two towels, a full change of clothes, and a separate bag for wet, sweaty gear and shoes. Arrive with more than you think you'll need. You'll be there for hours.
Is a duffle bag or a backpack better for the gym?
A duffle packs more easily and swallows bulky things like towels and shoes. A backpack is easier to carry when you're tired. A convertible duffle with backpack straps gives you both, which is why it suits race days and long gym sessions.
How do I keep sweaty clothes away from clean ones?
Use a bag with a separate compartment, and put wet shoes and gear in a cinch-top laundry bag. Then unpack and air everything out as soon as you're home.
See it for yourself
If you're after one bag that handles race day, the gym and a weekend away, have a look at the Flex 27L Convertible Duffle. Pair it with the Travel Laundry Bag and your wet shoes have somewhere to go too.
