Super fit Lancashire mum, 53, and daughter, 24 - mistaken for sister - ace Hyrox together

A super fit mum and daughter from Lancashire have been mistaken for sisters after competing in an intense Hyrox competition together.

Erica Boys, 53, feels 'better than she did in her twenties' after completing the race alongside her daughter, Ella, 24, a physiotherapist.

The pair trained with each other three times a week over eight weeks to prepare for the competition in Warsaw, Poland.

They took on the Hyrox competition, which involved running eight kilometres and high intensity exercises, and finished the route in a time of one hour and 17 minutes.

The sporty duo are often mistaken for sisters due to Erica’s youthful looks.

Ella said: “I was on a walk with my mum yesterday and my new boss said to me, ‘I saw you walking, was that your sister you were walking with?’ And in the comments on my TikTok where it blew up, people were saying, ‘You’re lying this isn’t your mum this is your sister’, and ‘You’ve won the genetic lottery’”.

Erica, a nutrition coach, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, said: "To be honest it was putting my body into a bit of a shock at the time. I felt better than I did in my twenties by the end. It's a bit addictive. We got so wrapped up in it a few weeks before, we were obsessed with how we’d fuel ourselves and our bodies. We used energy gels, beetroot shots, and supplements for performance. Anything that might have helped on the day we tried.”

The pair decided to sign up for the competition, which took place on April 12, after watching Ella’s partner, Harry Devine, 31, a cook, compete in the Birmingham one in October 2024.

Ella said: "It gave me a little buzz because I was posting about event we did together. So many people were so lovely about mum, it’s just inspired other people. People were saying 'when I grow older, I want to look like your mum.' There wasn't one nasty thing. I don’t think she realises how amazing she did on the day. It's nice to realise you don’t have to be a top athlete to do Hyrox. It was great to do it with mum.”

The pair are set to remain training buddies too.

Erica said: “When she’s [Ella] at home like she is at the moment we train together a minimum of once a week, but we want to carry on with this type of training.”

Erica researched what "energy" the body needs to enter into a race like Hyrox, with the pair’s daily “whole food” diet including high protein meals like yoghurt, berries and seeds for breakfast, and salmon or ratatouille for dinner.

Erica said: “On race day we tried extra carbohydrates that were fast release like white bread. We had things like Percy Pigs and rice cakes with chocolate on because we needed that instant energy.”

"I think it’s really important to get across you can try these things, and it doesn’t matter what your time is. You get a sense of achievement, and to do it with someone you deeply care about means the world.

“I’m in my fifties and I always say to a lot of people it’s not too late and you’re never too old to try something, because you can still have a fulfilling life even if you are fifty plus. We ran across the line holding hands."