Memorial Day Murph: An Origin Story

Dave Castro talks about the origin of Memorial Day Murph. CrossFit introduced Murph as an official Hero workout in 2005. But the phenomenon of Memorial Day Murph was born organically within the affiliate community. 

The original description of Murph read:

“In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan, June 28, 2005. This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it ‘Body Armor.’ From here on, it will be referred to as ‘Murph’ in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.”

Murph

For time:
Run 1 mile
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 squats
Run 1 mile 

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. If you’ve got a 20-lb vest or body armor, wear it.

Every year, hundreds of CrossFit affiliates across the globe complete Murph on Memorial Day to honor his sacrifice.

“That the affiliates and the community came together on their own — independently together as all these micro gyms across the world to do this the same weekend is an expression of the power of this community globally to an awe-inspiring degree,” Castro said. “I mean, it’s pretty impressive. This was not an organized thing. This was not our organized effort to make Murph a thing on Memorial Day weekend. This was something that the community said, ‘Hey, we are going to do (this) on our own as independent gyms,’ and it’s now this massive collective.

Today’s Workout of the Day is a Hero Workout of your choice. Find a CrossFit gym near you.