Paying Millions to Get Fit: The Middle Class Fitness Phenomenon

This surge in interest has a clear data foundation. Citing Garmin Connect data, running activity among users in Indonesia jumped from 56,463 in January 2024 to 242,627 in May 2025 (Tabloid Pulsa, 2025). GoodStats calculated that increase as equivalent to roughly a 330 percent rise (GoodStats, 2025). The same pattern shows up on the community side. Citing Strava data, the number of running clubs in Indonesia grew sixfold throughout 2025 (Okezone, 2025).

The volume of events held has also exploded. Throughout 2025, GoodStats recorded around 558 running events across Indonesia, the largest number compared to previous years. As a growth comparison, Liputan6 reported there were 257 running events throughout 2024, up 60 percent from the year before, with Gen Z and millennial participants dominating at a ratio of roughly 2:1 (Liputan6, 2025). It is on this foundation that Hyrox and Siksorogo Lawu Ultra emerged, as two different faces of the same trend: extreme endurance sports that demand a commitment of time, money, and physical pain, then display it as an achievement.

Hyrox, a global fitness race format that combines an 8x1 km run with eight functional training stations such as sled push, rowing, and wall balls, was held in Indonesia for the first time on June 27-28, 2026 at Nusantara International Convention Exhibition (NICE), PIK2. The result exceeded expectations: around 11,500 participants from various backgrounds took part, making Hyrox Jakarta the highest-participation edition in Asia Pacific. Tickets even sold out several weeks before the event. That high demand was also reflected on the spectator side, with spectator tickets priced at Rp238,000 per day also selling out before the event date (Fenesia, 2026).

That "biggest in Asia Pacific" scale feels more concrete when compared with other cities. Citing Liputan6, Hyrox's first race in Singapore drew around 3,500 participants and Bangkok around 9,000, while Jakarta went straight to 11,500. Around 4,000 participants, or more than 35 percent of the total, even came from abroad, a real indicator of sport tourism potential (Liputan6, 2026).

Meanwhile, far from the hustle and bustle of Jakarta, Siksorogo Lawu Ultra (SLU) on the slopes of Mount Lawu, Karanganyar, has already become an annual tradition for several years. The 2025 edition, held December 6-7, recorded 5,700 runners from home and abroad, a significant jump from 4,500 participants in 2023. Around 100 of them were foreign runners from 12 different countries, including Japan and Malaysia (Espos.id, 2025).

In 2026, Siksorogo expanded its format through a new event called Ring of Lawu (ROL), held July 25-26, 2026. Besides keeping the 100K ultra trail category, ROL added more beginner-friendly road run categories, namely 5K, 10K, and 21K, as if trying to reach a wider audience without losing its extreme identity in the top-tier categories (Siksorogo, 2026).

Looking deeper, the pricing structure of both events reveals a fair amount about their target markets.

Hyrox Jakarta 2026:

• Singles (Open/Pro): Rp2,500,000 per person

• Doubles: Rp4,700,000 per pair

• Relay (team of four): Rp7,500,000 per team

(Source: Fenesia, 2026)

That's just the ticket. The real total spending is far higher. Estimated total Hyrox costs in 2025 ranged from Rp3 million to Rp7 million for local participants, and could reach Rp20 million if traveling to an overseas event. Components include sports gear (Rp1.5 million to Rp4 million), personal trainer fees (Rp200,000 to Rp500,000 per session), and paid online training programs (Rp200,000 to Rp800,000 per month) (Suara.com, 2026).

In terms of ticket price alone, Siksorogo is clearly far more affordable than Hyrox. But the real total cost doesn't stop there. Participants from outside Solo Raya have to cover transportation, lodging in Tawangmangu (which was fully booked up to three months in advance), and trail running gear that isn't cheap either. The new 100K relay scheme in ROL 2026 is worth noting: by splitting the cost between two or five people, the per-head price drops significantly to between Rp774 thousand and Rp1.1 million, an effective strategy for drawing in group or community participation, while also making the 100K ultra challenge feel more accessible without requiring a solo full effort.

Both Hyrox and Siksorogo require two resources that not everyone has: money and free time for structured training.

A Katadata report notes that the costs Hyrox participants must bear are not small, starting from tickets, shoes, up to special training programs, not including gym membership fees and additional nutrition needs (Katadata, 2026). This is not a financial burden that just any income group can carry. The rise of gyms with functional training facilities and "Hyrox-friendly" communities in major cities further confirms who the target market is: office workers and urban professionals with enough income and free time to train intensively for one to two months before the race.

This pattern becomes clearer when the two events are compared side by side. With tickets starting at Rp2.5 million and total spending that can reach Rp7 million, even Rp20 million if going abroad, Hyrox clearly speaks to the upper middle segment: young executives, urban professionals, up to celebrities with large disposable incomes.

Siksorogo has a different character. Its cheapest ticket starts at Rp400 thousand, far below Hyrox. This broader participant profile suggests that Siksorogo's audience reaches the middle class in a more general sense, although it still requires additional costs for transportation and lodging to Tawangmangu. It's worth noting that this difference in the socioeconomic profile of Hyrox and Siksorogo participants is an initial observation, not a verified conclusion about each group's motivations. Status-driven motivation could well be present in both events, just with different markers, and this reading has not been tested through primary research.

Major brands have also moved in, reading this opportunity. PUMA, as Hyrox's global partner, launched the "Road to AirAsia HYROX Jakarta" program, complete with an open selection team that drew more than 100 applicants, and released a special competition shoe called the Deviate Elite HYROX (Media Indonesia, 2026). The aspirational layer is also visible through the presence of public figures. Several celebrities such as Luna Maya, Cinta Laura, and Irfan Bachdim competed in various categories, as reported by Popmama and Detik (Popmama, Detik). The presence of names with large followings adds aspirational appeal to the overall sports package.

Interestingly, this profile of "who can afford it" is moving amid economic pressure on the middle class itself. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows the middle class population fell from 57.33 million people in 2019 to 47.85 million in 2024. On the spending side, the middle class together with the aspiring middle class group still accounts for around 81.22 percent of total national household consumption, even though the middle class alone contributes only around 38.66 percent (Susenas BPS, March 2025). This means the middle class is shrinking in number, but the aggregate spending power of these two groups remains the main pillar of consumption, and part of that spending is now flowing into experiences like races.

The shift in motive is also worth noting. Hakuhodo's 2025 Sei-katsu-sha Lab study titled "Navigating the In Between" found that Indonesia's middle class now shops to prioritize themselves and cope with uncertainty, not solely to display status (Bisnis.com, 2025). This finding matters because it places the extreme sports trend at the intersection of two drives that can coexist: the desire for recognition and the need for self-care.

Here's something worth reflecting on: if the upper middle class used to show achievement through items like branded bags, cars, and overseas vacations, some of them now show it through physical endurance displayed on Strava and Instagram Stories.

Finisher patches, race bibs, and sweaty finish line photos have become the new social currency. It's no surprise that one Hyrox participant, Hamida Dwiningtias, stressed that her motivation wasn't just about chasing a medal. For her, the competition became a way to prove that physical fitness has to be comprehensive, covering both strength training and running ability (MSN/Katadata). She even reminded people not to join just out of FOMO without an adequate fitness foundation. This reminder underscores that behind the trend there is a real risk for participants who join without preparation.

This phenomenon can be read as a form of wellness flexing, meaning self-chosen suffering such as fatigue, muscle soreness, and lost sleep for the sake of a dawn training schedule, converted into proof of discipline and social capital. Conceptually, the pattern recalls the idea of conspicuous leisure introduced by economist Thorstein Veblen in 1899 in The Theory of the Leisure Class. If conspicuous consumption shows off what one buys, conspicuous leisure highlights a person's ability to set aside time and energy for economically unproductive activity as a status marker. Unlike luxury goods that can be bought instantly, a finisher medal requires an investment of time that can't be faked, and that's exactly where its value as a status marker feels more authentic to some people.

It should be noted that this psychological and social reading is still interpretive. It's useful as a lens for understanding the pattern, but it hasn't been verified through primary research on participants, so it should be read as a hypothesis, not a final conclusion.

However, the optimism around wellness flexing and this new status symbol has a side that doesn't always make it into Instagram posts. Citing GPriority, at Hyrox Jakarta, the event's medical team reported still finding a fair number of participants collapsing during the competition, one cause being heat stroke, a condition that, according to a sports medicine specialist on duty at the event, feels contradictory given the race was held indoors in what should be a cool space. The same doctor warned the public not to join just because of FOMO without adequate physical preparation, noting that the combination of long distance running and high intensity weight training demands a strong cardio base (GPriority, 2026).

Warnings like this aren't without reason. At Siksorogo Lawu Ultra 2025, two participants in the Fun Run 15K category died during the race on December 7, one from a breathing disorder triggered by asthma in the cold mountain air, the other from a heart attack. According to an official statement from the Central Java Youth, Sports, and Tourism Office, both had pre-existing conditions that were not disclosed during the pre-race health check. The incident prompted organizers to review the race route and add medical personnel at vulnerable points.

This incident also exposed a gap that's rarely discussed: financial protection for endurance sports participants is still very limited. SLU organizers confirmed that the insurance policy provided only covered physical accidents such as falling into a ravine or being struck by a falling tree, not medical events like a heart attack, so both victims' families only received compensation from the organizers, not an insurance claim. In other words, the bigger the physical ambition being staked at these events, the clearer it becomes that the safety net hasn't fully kept pace.

In response, organizers appear to be starting to improve. For the 2026 edition, Siksorogo Ring of Lawu partnered with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (the national workers' social security agency) as the insurance provider for all participants, from the 5K road run category up to the 100K ultra, as stated in the official facilities listed under each registration category. This step aligns with a broader trend, given that BPJS Ketenagakerjaan has recently begun moving into sport tourism and national running events. How well this scheme addresses the gap seen in the previous edition still needs further confirmation from the organizers.

That said, this trend isn't only about class-based criticism. Specifically for Siksorogo, its impact on Tawangmangu's local economy is significant enough to note.

Money circulation during the SLU 2025 event is estimated to have reached nearly Rp20 billion, a sharp jump from around Rp12 billion the year before, driven by the rise in participants from 4,500 to 5,700 people. With that many participants, all the lodging around the location was fully booked, and the impact was felt from hotels and villas down to local small businesses (Espos.id, 2025).

The Ministry of Tourism has even flagged Siksorogo Lawu Ultra as one of the promising sport tourism events worth continued development, with plans for further support in future editions. Local residents were directly involved too. Starting two weeks before the event, they worked together to repair trails, clean checkpoints, and prepare local food for participants. Some even opened their private homes as makeshift lodging once all the formal hotels were full.

The scale doesn't stop at Tawangmangu either. At the level of urban running events, the economic impact can be far larger. Citing GoodStats, the BTN Jakarta International Marathon 2025 generated an economic turnover of around Rp127.1 billion with 31,000 participants from 53 countries, driving the hospitality, transportation, culinary, and sports retail sectors (GoodStats, 2025). In aggregate, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy projects national sport tourism's economic value in 2024 reached around Rp18.79 trillion, contributing 25 to 30 percent of total tourism event value (Kemenpora, 2025). As a global comparison, UN Tourism recorded sport tourism accounting for around 10 percent of world tourism spending, while an Expedia survey found 44 percent of travelers were willing to travel abroad for a sports event, spending an average of around US$1,500 per visit (Laksara, 2025).

In other words, behind the narrative of "expensive sport for the upper class," there is real economic redistribution, both to regions that have rarely received major tourism attention and to the broader industry ecosystem. This is a nuance worth acknowledging amid criticism of the trend's exclusivity.

For marketers, this phenomenon offers something rare: a high-value audience that self-selects. Million-rupiah tickets and weeks of training commitment automatically filter participants into urban professionals with disposable income, health awareness, and digital documentation habits. This group is hard to reach through conventional advertising, but they gather voluntarily in one location at one moment.

The sponsorship patterns already in place offer a clear map. At Hyrox Jakarta, ION Water from Amerta Indah Otsuka came in as the hydration partner, AirAsia rode the sport tourism angle through event naming rights, and PUMA built community through the "Road to AirAsia HYROX Jakarta" program while also releasing a special shoe. In the regular running ecosystem, a similar model is run by ISOPLUS from WINGS Group and Herbalife. The common thread: in this space, sponsorship functions as community building, not just logo placement. Brands that build a training club or preparation program get access to the audience well before race day.

The opportunities are still wide open. Categories that are already crowded include hydration, nutrition, shoes, apparel, and wearables like Garmin as well as platforms like Strava. What's still open includes recovery services, financial and pay-later solutions for gear and tickets, hospitality for the "runcation" trend, and sweat-resistant beauty products for the growing segment of female participants.

Insurance is one of the spaces that remains wide open, especially since endurance sport event policies in Indonesia are generally designed for physical accidents such as falling or being struck by an object, while medical risks such as heart attacks or heat stroke, the two risks most relevant to high intensity sports, are still rarely covered.

Incidents at various sporting events, especially running events, where participants died from heart and breathing conditions and didn't receive insurance claims, starkly exposed this gap. Siksorogo itself responded by partnering with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan for the 2026 edition, a step worth applauding.

But the question now shifts to the whole industry: how many of the other 558 running events held throughout the year have a similar protection scheme? Insurance or insurtech brands bold enough to design products specifically for endurance sports, such as protection based on pre-race health screening or cardiovascular condition coverage, have room to fill a gap that has so far been overlooked by hydration, shoe, and nutrition sponsorships.

The deepest strategic lesson lies in the "status as effort" character that is the thesis of this piece. Because the social value of a finisher medal comes from a process that can't be bought instantly, the brands that win are the ones that honor the journey, not just the end product. Participants' journey content is a factory of authentic user-generated content, and a badge that "must be earned" holds more value than a prize that's simply handed out.

Lastly, there's a regional and responsibility dimension. The Siksorogo model shows that endurance events open doors for local brands and small businesses, not just national brands, so regional activation has real room to grow. On the other hand, this audience is sensitive to sponsorship that feels fake, and there's reputational risk if a brand pushes FOMO without safety context. As one participant herself reminded, joining without a fitness foundation carries injury risk. Brands that position themselves on the side of education and credibility will age better than those that just ride the hype.

If brands read this trend as a market, policymakers have reason to read it as a development instrument that's already in motion. The government's direction is fairly clear. At the end of 2025, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Youth and Sports signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen sport tourism development synergy (HetaNews, 2025). Kemenpora is even preparing an Indonesian Sport Tourism Road Map as a national guide for sustainable destination and event development (Kemenpora, 2025). The figures in this piece, from Rp20 billion in Tawangmangu to Rp127.1 billion in Jakarta and Rp18.79 trillion nationally, confirm that endurance events have moved beyond lifestyle status and are starting to function as economic infrastructure. However, translating this trend into sustainable public value requires policy attention on several points.

Sustainability and local economic linkage. This trend's economic impact is felt most when the benefits flow to local communities. Pocari Sweat Run Mandalika 2025, for instance, drew more than 9,000 participants, 70 percent of them from outside Lombok, and generated an economic impact of around Rp85.5 billion that moved accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and small businesses (Laksara, 2025). The challenge, as Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana has stressed, lies in consistency, since events like this need to be sustained for their economic benefits to be felt continuously, not just once. Good policy would encourage event designs that maximize local linkage, from involving local vendors and workers to resident-run lodging, as has already happened organically in Tawangmangu.

Standards and participant safety. Another side of the explosion of 558 running events throughout 2025 is uneven organizing quality and real injury risk, exactly as warned by participants about the danger of joining out of FOMO without a fitness foundation. The Tourism Minister herself has urged organizers to raise standards to match world class levels (Laksara, 2025), while Kemenpora has highlighted the need to build organizer human resource capacity (Kemenpora, 2025). For policy, this is a concrete space: minimum medical and safety standards, organizer certification, and evacuation protocols, especially for ultra and trail categories in remote areas like mountain slopes where access to help is limited.

Environmental carrying capacity. Many endurance events sell natural beauty, from Mount Lawu to Lake Toba, some of which sit in fragile ecosystems. Rapid participant growth needs to be balanced with environmental carrying capacity assessments, waste management, and trail protection, so that the natural assets that are the main draw aren't damaged by their own popularity.

Equitable access and public health. This is the point closest to this piece's thesis. A Nielsen 2025 survey found 86 percent of Indonesians are now proactive about maintaining their health, well above the global average of 70 percent (Laksara, 2025). This is a major public health opportunity. However, there's a risk that organized fitness turns into a class marker, while free or low-cost public infrastructure gets left behind. If million-rupiah tickets and structured training time become the requirement, health benefits could become segmented along economic lines, at a time when the middle class population itself is shrinking. Policy that balances this trend would preserve public space for free activities like Car Free Day and community running tracks, while pairing the promotion of an active lifestyle with education on safe participation.

The government has already positioned sport tourism as a new economic engine, and the cross-ministry collaboration led by Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir affirms that direction (Republika, 2025). The added value from an independent perspective lies in making sure this engine grows inclusively, safely, and sustainably, so its benefits reach further than just those who could already afford the ticket price from the start.

The question now is no longer "is this extreme sport good for health," because the answer is clearly yes, as long as it's done with adequate preparation. The more interesting question is: does the drive to participate really come from a desire to take care of the body, or from a need to be recognized within a certain social circle?

Maybe the answer isn't black and white. Hakuhodo's finding about spending as self-care and the theory of conspicuous leisure can both be true at the same time. A person can genuinely want to be healthy while also enjoying the social validation that comes with it. What's certain is that both Hyrox and Siksorogo show Indonesia's middle class is looking for a new way to display achievement, no longer through what they own, but through what they're able to endure.

This trend likely won't stop at Hyrox and Siksorogo alone. With more similar events being planned for Indonesia, the next question probably isn't "what extreme sport will boom next," but "who else will be able, and willing, to pay to feel it."

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