2025 Memorial Day Murph at Black Wolf CrossFit

On Memorial Day Monday, May 26th, 2025, we will be taking on "Murph" in honor of all of those who have given their lives in service to this country. "Murph" is specifically in honor of US Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy from New York who was killed in action in Afghanistan. He was the unit leader of Marcus Luttrell and sacrificed his life in one last effort to complete a radio transmission that would allow for his men to be rescued. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

When he was deployed, Lt. Murphy would often run a mile around his operating base, complete 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, and then run another mile. He would also wear his body armor when he would complete this. When he passed away, his brothers and the larger community adopted this workout as a way to honor his memory.

"Murph"

1 Mile Run

100 Pull Ups

200 Push Ups

300 Air Squats

1 Mile Run

Wear body armor (weight vest) if you have it (20#/14#)

Partition Reps as Needed*

*the most common way (and the recommended way) to complete this workout is to break up the reps into 20 rounds of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats. This coincidentally is also a round of "Cindy," a popular CrossFit Benchmark Workout (20:00 AMRAP: 5 Pull Ups, 10 Push Ups, 15 Air Squats also with the option to wear a vest).

CrossFit has always had Hero WODs, workouts in honor of men and women from around the world who gave their lives in service to something greater than themselves. "DT" is a well known one (5x 12 deadlifts, 9 hang power cleans, and 6 push jerk at 155#/105#) and "Chad" (1,000 box step ups for time) are two others you may be aware of.

These workouts are generally longer and a bit more grueling than the workouts we would normally program. And it is meant to put you in a dark place because in that moment we are able to push through remembering the who and why of what we are doing. That being said, we still utilize all of the principles of scaling and modficiation that we would with our normal program.

For "Murph," my two favorite Mods are:

Non-Negotiable Second Run Start Time: For those who would not be against doing the whole thing but are afraid they will be in way too deep and be left in the gym alone for an extra hour after everyone has finished, this one gives you a bit of a confidence boost knowing you will run at 45:00 no matter what. And that time can be lowered but should not be lengthened. A 45:00 second run start would allow you to have the same (average) amount of time for your workout as most people are leaving for the second run somewhere between 45 and 55 minutes. And if we were being sticklers, "Murph" likely should be done in 60 minutes or less. Sub 40:00 is spectacular.
1/2 Run + Full Cindy OR Full Run+1/2 Cindy or any Combo: Real talk, running sucks for a lot of us! And I dont just mean we do not prefer it but if we have not yet built the capacity to safely and effectively run then we really are not making a great decision to do a workout that requires a mile after what will likely be 25:00 of squatting sets of 15. And on the flip side, maybe you have the cardio but you just learned the skills like kipping pull ups. 10 sets of 5 may be a better goal for someone in your development. Or maybe you are still newer then you definitely do not need to air squat 300 times in 30:00.

Talk to your coach if you want to participate but you are not sure of how to get through it without too much suffering.

And if you would like to jump in here at Black Wolf, we would love to have you. You can buy a shirt and that will cover your drop in. Proceeds from the shirt (~$13 each) will go to charity to support the families of service men and women killed while serving. The deadline for shirts is Sunday, May 19th. After, a drop in is $25 and all drop-in fees will be donated as well.

We will be running 2 sessions. 7am and 8:30am. Space is limited as we do want to guarantee a positive experience. We will also have some treats and time to hang out before and after. Feel free to bring a lawn chair and a beverage for hanging out once you are done.

If you have any questions, reach out to me at Ben@BlackWolfCF.com

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