Andrew Kurkowski, a Prior Lake high school teacher and coach, notched a top-10 finish at the 2025 Hybricon Games. (photo by Paul Robert for Hybricon Games)
Andrew Kurkowski’s weekend in West Virginia was miserable.
He was tired. He woke up sore. He pushed his body to its limits.
And he can’t wait to do it again.
“When I was doing it, it felt so awful that I was like there is no way I’m doing this again,” Kurkowski said. “Now that I’m done and just kind of feel the reward of completion, I want to go back again. We’ll spend a little more time working on my weaknesses like my running and swimming.”
Kurkowski, 35, a Prior Lake High School business and science teacher from Savage, was one of 32 contestants – 18 men and 14 women – accepted to the 2025 Hybricon Games in the mountains of Hurricane, W.Va., notching a 10th-place finish against some of the worlds’ top hybrid athletes.
Fitness has always been a big part of his life. As a high school freshman, he was intimidated by the weight room until a fellow student convinced him otherwise.
“Ever since then, I’ve just been glued in there, whether it was training for football or training for my health,” Kurkowski said.
He eventually found his way to CrossFit, attracted by the diversity of the somewhat unconventional, high-intensity circuit workouts. Kurkowski, now an instructor at CrossFit Prior Lake, took part in some smaller competitions before finding out about the Hybricon Games in 2024 via an Amazon documentary.
The games, first launched in 2023 and sponsored by the U.S. Border Patrol, test traditional athletics such as weightlifting, running and swimming in an outdoors and survivalist setting. Kurkowski, offensive assistant coach for Lakers football and assistant coach for the Lakers strength and conditioning program, said the 14-event competition over three days is designed to be both mentally and physically taxing.
“The first day is Grit Day. You just have to grit down and own the pain throughout the whole day,” Kurkowski said. “The second day is Field Day. Max lifts, sprints, shorter events, but more explosive strength. The third day is Survival Day. It’s a mix of events of strategy, fitness and kind of the unknown.”
That unknown was a staple throughout Kurkowski’s entire journey.
It started with a summer qualifier of three video-recorded workouts. Kurkowski said he did well, but did not initially make the cut.
“A few weeks ago, they emailed me because someone couldn’t go,” he said.
The events are kept secret until the competition, requiring athletes to keep their entire bodies in physical shape. Kurkowski kept his normal, rigorous training regimen in place.
“I try to train to my limits every day regardless,” Kurkowski said. “There’s multiple competitions I do every year. I just want to be ready and constantly make myself better.”
Grit Day
The first day started with a double log chop followed immediately by an 11-mile trail run. Athletes were scored on both the log-chop time as well as the two together.
The games continued with a tournament-style swim race in a wave pool. The water was a frigid 50 degrees.
“That was my least favorite, for sure,” he said.
They finished the day with a two-mile, 45-pound sandbag carry.
Field Day
Day 2 began with a strong man Slater log — a log outfitted for progressively added weight. Contestants had to complete a clean-and-jerk.
“It was a ladder format, so they put a weight on and guys got in line,” Kurkowski said. “If you failed your attempt you were out. If you passed you got to the next stage.”
Kurkowski said despite him not training extensively on a Slater log in his normal workouts or run-up to the contest, the event ended up one of his favorites. He cleared 250 pounds, good for third place in the event and just shy of the 270-pound winning total.
The games moved on to a deadlift ladder: reps of four, three, two and one with 400-meter runs between reps. That was followed by “murderball.”
In murderball, a barrel is placed in the middle of a playing field with seven balls on the outer edge. Athletes win by getting the most balls in the barrel, often by physical force against their opponent.
“A guy broke his orbital bone during that one,” Kurkowski said.
The day wrapped with a “king of the hill” circuit workout race. Athletes did eight 15-foot rope climbs, 20 back squats of 225 pounds, 20 shoulder-to-overheads of 135 pounds and 20 burpee box jumpovers with large hill sprints between each.
Survival Day
The final day started at 5 a.m with a flare fired into the sky. Kurkowski and other contestants were tasked with finding the person who fired it.
“This person was in the mountains of West Virginia and we had to find them based on that and an airhorn,” Kurkowski said. “You tried to be the first one there or make it under the time cap.”
The day continued with a fire-building contest from two logs. Athletes were limited to a knife and three Vaseline-covered cotton balls.
Next came the bowathalon, another of Kurkowski’s favorites. The tournament style contest had contestants shoot five arrows and then sprint 400 meters through rough terrain such as hills and gravel. Arrow shots took seconds off the sprint time for the five-round contest.
“We were all put in certain heats and those heats continued to dwindle down each round until the final round,” Kurkowski said. “I got in and lost by two or three seconds to our grand champion.”
Next was a tug-of-war contest in which contestants were anchored in a heavy tire. To win, Kurkowski had to pull the opposing athlete out of the tire.
The games wrapped with a tournament-style one-on-one capture the flag contest.
Recovery
The three-day contest ended with Kurkowski exhausted. The soreness permeated through his body after the finish.
“Every day, I felt like I could hardly move during that competition,” Kurkowski said. “When I woke up, I was like, “Am I going to be able to do this?’”
But he did, and while he missed the winners’ podium, he said the games motivated him to train even harder. It also helped him identify some of his weaknesses so he can shift his training regimen, such as focusing more on running and swimming.
Kurkowski said he received an outpouring of support from family, friends, colleagues, students and his gym.
“It makes me feel good when you know you’ve got people rooting for you,” Kurkowski said.
Kurkowski said he relished being pushed to his limits in the competition. But he already has his eyes on the next Hybricon Games.
“When I was doing it, it felt so awful that I was like there is no way I’m doing this again. Now that I’m done and just kind of feel the reward of completion, I want to go back again.”
Seth Richardson is the Prior Lake News Compass interim editor.