On 28 July Sergey Zholobov entered the URX running league. On 1 August he logged his first run toward the standings — a little over six kilometres. Then no gaps: the 2nd, the 3rd — two outings in one day — the 4th, 5th, 6th. Seven runs in six days. He figured out how the league works faster than most people manage to pick a first race.
“I run by heart” — that’s me.
That is how he frames it: not the table and not kilometrage for a report, but “a feeling of joy in every moment” and the habit of being a little better than yesterday, every day.
Who he is — in his words
Before the league Sergey already had his own sports line. As a child and teenager — serious football. Recreational running “for himself” — since 2022, even if not steadily. He tried triathlon — “it really clicked.” In ordinary life he is a tech entrepreneur: he is building a startup around wearable data — a predictive AI system for runners and triathletes that helps read load, progress, and recovery. In this portrait that is not a separate business chapter, but a layer: the man already has a method for looking at himself, and he brought it into running.
He almost stumbled into the league: he saw a post about a race in Skolkovo’s feed, followed the link — and “was pleasantly surprised.” What caught him was not the promise of a medal, but “the inner mechanics of the races, the sharp design and the game features.” He wanted to understand “what this even is” — and within a few days he already had seven outings in a row in the standings.
First week in numbers
From 1 to 6 August 2026 Sergey has 40.6 kilometres, 7 runs, a little over three hours on his feet in the URX standings — all of it in one race, Business Run. Average pace — 4:59 per kilometre. Best stretch — 4:36 on a six on 3 August; longest outing — 8.2 km. No absolute or group wins yet: the period is open, places are not locked. That is exactly what you see on someone’s sixth day in the league — not a season verdict, a snapshot of the pace he already holds.
Almost every outing carries the same short tag — Hardy, Hardy AI, Hardy run. That is not a random label: it is the name of his own startup, a predictive AI operating system for runners and triathletes that Sergey is building himself. “I analyse data from wearables, aggregate it deeply, help amateurs and pros improve progress and numbers, and recover efficiently,” he says of the product in his own words. He is living this first week by the plan from Hardy AI: “there is a clear schedule and plan,” he tries to run in the morning — “morning runs come easier and more effectively for me.” Signing runs with the name of his project is also part of how URX works: the stands are open, and everyone announces themselves the way they know how.
Not only alone on the course
More often he runs alone. But when he travels to races in cities across Russia — “with friends,” and that, he says, “can be really cool and gripping.” Offline starts are already part of his habit; in the league protocol for now there is only the August Business Run — but the voice beyond the table is wider than one slot, and you can see where he will grow.
From a first season in the league he wants something simple: “to enjoy every session” and “to pull people into sport and a healthy lifestyle.” Not a hunt for a ranking line — a wish for running to stay alive and contagious.
Why he is in the spotlight
Sergey Zholobov is here not because he has already locked an absolute or built a season you can split into chapters. He is here because in URX you do not need to stockpile anything first: he came in on 28 July, picked a race, went out seven times in a week — and it is already clear what kind of runner he will be next. Forty kilometres, a pace around five minutes, “I run by heart” — and this is only the first week of the ones ahead.
