Honouring “Murph” in Benoni

The Murph WOD is a hero workout named after Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy.

June 13, 2020

Jemma Buys 2 minutes read

Last years 'Murph' challenge at the Urban Shack in Benoni.

The Urban Shack in Benoni took part in a worldwide CrossFit yearly challenge called Murph Work Out Of the Day (WOD) using Zoom on Saturday, May 30.
The Urban Shack posted on Facebook: “Murph is not just another work out, we do this challenge to increase our fitness before moving on to whatever else we have going on in the day. It is a workout designed to honor and remember the men and women of the armed forces that have lost their lives in defense of our freedom.

“Every year, every CrossFit box around the world do the Murph challenge as a tribute to fallen heroes.

Fine van Wyk (left) and Kerri Carew Johannes, Lizelle and Ian Van Schalkwyk, Julanka Gresse, Samantha and Gavin Lindsay, Roxanne Haynes and Adri Kietzmann, Neil Grantham, Herman Reiners, Willie Jacobs and Lee Badenhorst, Yaelin and Emilio Despotakis and Vuyani Mashego joined this year’s Murph challenge using Zoom.

Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy. Photo: Sourced.

It has become a tradition over time,” said Kerri Carew, one of the head coaches at the Urban Shack.The following is what is included in the challenge: One mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, another one mile run and all while wearing a 20 pound weight vest of body armour.

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Michael Patrick ‘Murph’ Murphy (May 7, 1976 – June 28, 2005) was a United States Navy SEAL officer who was awarded the US military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the War in Afghanistan. He was the first member of the US Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War. His other posthumous awards include the Silver Star Medal (which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor) and the Purple Heart. He was killed on June 28, 2005, after his team was compromised and surrounded by Taliban forces near Asadabad, Afghanistan.The Murph Hero WOD was originally posted on the CrossFit main site as the workout of the day on Thursday August 18, 2005, where the post said: “This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d name it body armor”.

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From this day on, CrossFit boxes from all over the world joined in on this day, and this event.This year made things a little different due to Covid-19 and the lockdown, but this didn’t stop Urban Shack from continuing this inspiring workout while using technology platforms such as Zoom.”It was a lot harder this year as normally we would have about 30 to 40 people doing it along side each other at their gyms. This year we only had a handful who could participate on Zoom,” said Carew,