In the back of Myrtle Beach's "X" Complex, a group of men, women and children paid tribute to our fallen soldiers, not with your traditional ceremony or picnic, but with hard work.
Blood leaked from their ripped skin, sweat from their exhausted bodies and tears from their joyful eyes when their journey was finally over.
While completing a style of exercise called Crossfit, the band of fitness enthusiasts out of Crossfit Myrtle Beach honored Navy Seal Lieutenant Michael Murphy. On June 25, 2005, Murphy gave his life while fighting the War on Terror in Afghanistan.
"He was a hero," says Crossfit Coach Derick Bosely. "This is just our way of paying our respect to him."
Monday, Crossfit gyms around the country completed Lieutenant Murphy's favorite workout...
-1 mile run
-100 pull ups
-200 push ups
-300 squats
-1 mile run
The workout when Lieutenant Murphy completed it was known as "Body Armor". Today, Crossfit circles honor the American Patriot by recognizing the workout simply as "Murph", and Memorial Day Murph soon followed each year.
"All for a good cause right," is all participant Tara Kendrick could muster while in the middle of the workout.
"This wasn't a hero workout to him. This wasn't an epic workout to him. It was just a Wednesday," said Bosely. "That's what these American fighting men and women are like. They're tenacious. They have a spirit you can't find anywhere else."
It took John Hubbard 57 minutes and 48 seconds to complete "Murph", and he said he never stopped because the thoughts of our troops never left his mind. "If your muscles start giving out or you don't want to go any further, you remember all the other people that have struggled even harder than this," says Hubbard, "and they do it daily. It's overwhelming."
Crossfit Myrtle Beach raised nearly $3000 for the Wounded Warriors Project with business sponsorships and donations from those participating in the workout.
