Freshly Chopped founder Brian Lee to launch Irish fitness racing brand
Irish entrepreneur Brian Lee has established a new business, Tryka, offering a hybrid fitness race league that would be run across a number of events over the course of 12 months.
The fitness racing brand has been founded with €500,000 in backing from Mr Lee and other investors. It plans to host its inaugural event indoors in the RDS on October 11th and 12th with registration set to open in the coming weeks.
This will be one of four events held in the RDS, with a finale being planned for the Algarve, Portugal in October 2026.
The concept has been modelled on the German company Hyrox, a popular indoor fitness competition that will be hosting its own Irish event at the RDS in November, and runs competitions in 30 cities globally.
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Mr Lee, who founded the retail chain Freshly Chopped more than a decade ago, got the idea from competing in the Hyrox events, which have proved popular with fitness competitors.
He now wants to launch a competition accessible to all levels of fitness.
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'I want to go after the 5k runner, the mass market, the normal person that wants to do something but not always to win it. It's all about trying not about winning,' he said.
The competition comprises eight functional exercises, with participants awarded points for each element. Mr Lee is also seeking to attract corporate clients to the concept, which could introduce a team element to the competition.
He said the RDS event would be open to up to 5,500 competitors over the two days, with tickets costing €107 each to enter. Tickets are expected to go on sale in June.
He's also hoping to secure apparel, drinks and supplements sponsors for the events and aims to establish partnerships with local gyms and clubs to build 'community engagement'.
'After competing in Hyrox events across Europe, I saw a real gap in the market here. Many people love the idea of hybrid fitness racing, but feel it's out of reach – too intense, too exclusive or just not for them. Tryka is designed to bring fitness racing to the wider public,' Mr Lee said.
In 2012, Mr Lee founded Freshly Chopped, a retail food chain that offered a menu of salads and other items.
He stepped away from that business in the middle of last year, when it was bought by private equity firm KnightBridge Group.
Reflecting in his time with Freshly Chopped, Mr Lee said: 'It was a 13-year journey, something I created. The business was ruined [by Covid lockdowns], 400 staff let go on temporary leave. It was literally roll up the sleeves [after that] ... and the love had gone out of it.'
Mr Lee is currently in Japan at the
EY Entrepreneur of the Year
(EOY) CEO retreat. He is a member of the EOY alumni board, having been a previous finalist.
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