But with her husband Joe Vao in the seat next to her, Bramley gritted her teeth and flew across the globe. And in just her second Hyrox race, she became the world champion in her 40-44 age group.<\/p>\n
Bramley first came across the fitness race that\u2019s become a global sensation online and saw it as an opportunity to channel her background as a New Zealand-level equestrian rider and later, a middle-distance runner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pretty good at a national level [in athletics], but I was never elite,\u201d she says, having claimed bronze in the senior women\u2019s 800m at the 2014 national championships.<\/p>\n
She had also competed seriously in CrossFit. While she loved the sport, some of the complex gymnastic movements and max strength elements didn\u2019t play to her greatest asset \u2013 her aerobic engine. \u201cThen I saw Hyrox starting to spread around the world and was just hoping it would come to New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna Bramley masters the wall ball at the 2025 Hyrox world champs.<\/p>\n
In a Hyrox race, athletes complete eight 1km runs, each followed by a workout station \u2013 from sled pushes to rowing to wall balls \u2013 testing endurance, strength and grit.<\/p>\n
When Hyrox finally arrived in Bramley\u2019s home city of Auckland in January 2025, she entered thinking she\u2019d tick it off with a single race.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I just loved it \u2013 I caught the bug straight away,\u201d she laughs. \u201cComing from both a running and CrossFit background, it felt like those two worlds collided. I just loved being out there, knowing the task and trying to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
With athletes starting in heats, she had no real sense of where she\u2019d placed amid the large field \u2013 not realising she\u2019d won her 40\u201344 age group.<\/p>\n
Winning again at the World Championships in Chicago further fuelled her appetite for the sport.<\/p>\n
Now competing in the pro ranks, she\u2019s set her sights on testing herself against the very best.<\/p>\n
In Brisbane in April, Bramley earned a place in the Apac Elite 15 race (reserved for the top 15 ranked Hyrox women in the Asia-Pacific region) and delivered an outstanding fourth-placed finish in a personal best time of 1h 3m.<\/p>\n
A podium finish would have secured her a spot in the elite race at the World Championships, adding extra stakes to the performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal was top five, and I achieved that, so I\u2019m happy,\u201d she says, before adding with a laugh, \u201cbut podium would have been better!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her result was made even more impressive by the lead-in. An injury four weeks out had limited her ability to train the lunges, a key station late in the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey really taxed my legs, and by the final station, the wall balls felt really hard,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Balancing the demands of maintaining her running prowess while building the strength required for the eight workout stations remains a work in progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a huge amount of respect for the amount of specific training needed to keep improving in this sport,\u201d Bramley says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a challenge she\u2019s navigating alongside her husband. A former high-level CrossFit competitor, Vao programmes the strength sessions, while Bramley leans on her running background to shape the conditioning work \u2013 all woven around their busy family life.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe is so clever at designing challenging workouts, which I really like,\u201d she says. \u201cYou really have to earn his praise, he\u2019s constantly telling me, \u2018You can do better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A mum to two boys, Bodhi-Wolf, 7, and Nakoa-River, 4, Bramley is often up early to train before school and daycare drop-offs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about fitting training into our family life \u2013 it\u2019s all we know. Sometimes I\u2019ll run to where we\u2019re going, like a kids\u2019 birthday party. You make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making it work around family, fulltime work \u2013 as sales co-ordinator for The Beauty Collective \u2013 and even a fear of flying is simply how Bramley operates.<\/p>\n
She\u2019ll soon decide whether to defend her age group title at the World Championships in Stockholm in June, or line up in another elite race in Sydney in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still figuring out the balance of training and racing \u2013 where do I put my effort?\u201d says the ever-curious athlete.<\/p>\n
Either way, Bramley has found her stride in a sport she loves and she\u2019s no longer ruling out flying to her next challenge.<\/p>\n