2023 Memorial Day Murph Details And Shirt Order

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It’s finally May, and if you’ve been a CrossFit athlete for any length of time you’ll know that May means Memorial Day, which means our annual Murph Challenge is just around the corner!  Keep reading to learn more about the challenge itself, how to attend, and how to order your 2023 Murph Shirt!

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Memorial Day Murph Challenge – What, When, and Why?

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The Murph challenge is an annual workout that the CrossFit community takes on each Memorial Day.  In fact, “Murph” is one way a lot of people have found CrossFit throughout the years – whether they took on the challenge themselves and then learned about the CrossFit community after completing it, or a friend/ family member dragged them into a local affiliate to complete the workout with a class.  Whatever the case, the Memorial Day Murph Challenge is a bond that many CrossFitters share throughout the country and even worldwide!

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So what is the Murph Challenge, exactly?

Murph is what we call a “Hero WOD” in CrossFit, which are workouts created to honor a service member who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. “Murph” was created in August 2005 to honor Michael Murphy. You can learn more about the Murph Challenge, and the man behind the workout right HERE.

We also highly recommend the film “Lone Survivor” which highlights Michael Murphy and his group, depicting their experience in Afghanistan from the memories of the lone surviving member of the group, Marcus Luttrell.

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The Murph Challenge itself is the following:

For Time, complete:

1 Mile Run

100 Pull-ups

200 Push-ups

300 Air Squats

1 Mile Run

* If you have a weight vest or body armor, wear it

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This workout is NOT for the faint of heart! It’s a long effort that has many different elements to challenge even the fittest athletes.

However, like all CrossFit workouts, the Murph Challenge is absolutely scalable and can be suited to a wide range of fitness levels.

The ability to have a workout that really packs a punch, but is also scalable for all is why the Murph Challenge is such a great community event at CrossFit affiliates, and one of the reasons we will continue to do it every Memorial Day!

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Aevitas Fitness 2023 Memorial Day Murph Challenge Details

Date: Monday, May 29th

Location: Both Aevitas locations

Time: 8:00 AM & 9:15 AM start times. Refreshments will be available after!

Cost: Free, but you can purchase a t-shirt or make a donation (see link below) – all proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project

– NOTE: This year’s Murph Challenge at Aevitas is being sponsored by Liquid Death, which means that every penny of the cost of your t-shirts is going directly to the cause!

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GET YOUR T-SHIRT!

Big thanks as always to Anna Oberkirker and Jon Noonan for making sure this year’s shirts are yet again a must-have item for your summer wardrobe! This year we have our normal unisex t-shirt and ladies tank option, as well as a cop tank!

If you’d like to contribute to the Wounded Warrior Project through our Murph Challenge event, but do NOT want a t-shirt, you can use the t-shirt order form to pledge a $10, $20, or $50 donation.

The 2023 Murph T-Shirt Pre-order will only be open through Friday, May 12th – so make sure to get that order in ASAP!

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MURPH T-SHIRT ORDER LINK

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I have 2 younger brothers and a younger sister that are an army ranger, Michelin star chef, and D1 college athlete respectively. I was fortunate enough to play college lacrosse for Suny Albany from 2010-to 2014. During my time there our highest ranking was #3 in the nation.

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I grew up playing soccer the moment I could walk and then began swimming competitively around 8 years old. During high school, I suffered 2 major injuries that took me out of sports and another one in my first year of college. Even when I couldn’t play sports I loved going to the gym and that helped me get back into soccer to play my 2nd year of college. That was a tough moment for me because I wasn’t the same player I once was, and the environment wasn’t for me. After that, I continued going to a commercial gym but I still struggled. I miss the competitive edge and the community you get from sports. By Dec. 2017 I signed up for my first CrossFit class. I won’t lie I was very nervous but after my first month and meeting so many wonderful people, I was hooked! After a few years, I transitioned into just weightlifting. In 2020, I competed in my first mock-meet and even though I struggled with lifting in front of everyone, I wanted to keep getting better. Every competition after that I grew more and more confident, and I would always learn something new. These are some of my most cherished memories and they make me who I am today! In the summer of 2021, I started my training, to coach, under our Head Weightlifting Coach – Sam Axten. I absolutely love coaching Weightlifting and watching all our athletes grow both physically and mentally.

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I started playing softball at four years old and through the end of my collegiate career, much of my life revolved around sport. Through this, I spent a lot of time with my coaches. Knowing how big of an impact each of my coaches had on my life is what made me realize I wanted to coach athletes one day. While trying to become stronger for softball, I found CrossFit in 2015 and fell in love with it right away. Once I became a bit more seasoned in CrossFit and the community became my family, I knew I wanted to coach it. Becoming a coach allowed me to learn better movement patterns, become a stronger and healthier version of myself, and then help others do the same for themselves.

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I’ve lived in the capital region since 2002 with my wife Diana. My favorite things to do in my spare time are hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and of course CrossFit. In the past I’ve done lots of rock climbing, competed in adventure races, and played in countless hockey, softball, and racquetball leagues. Prior to moving to the area, I had the privilege of living in several different cities around the US, and several different countries around the world. This taught me a lot about people, and their differences and similarities. The most important thing I’ve learned through my life’s journey is how much you can learn by simply listening deeply to people and asking follow-up questions. I love to learn about people, what energizes them, and why they see things in certain ways.

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Owen Putman

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I started my athletic life as a Nordic skier when I was 5. I also started playing lacrosse around that time. I started competing in Nordic ski racing at 15 and was able to compete at junior nationals in 2015 and 2016. I played competitive lacrosse through college, playing 5 years at RPI and was a two year captain. After finishing skiing at the end of high school, I found CrossFit as a way to get in shape for college lacrosse. I instantley fell in love with crossfit and was at the gym 6 days a week for multiplel hours working out. I then realized that the weightlifting movements were my favorite parts of CrossFit. This lead me to doing exclusively Olympic weightlifting as a sport. Once in college I fell in love with the sport and trained continually through my career. During this time, I competed in multiple local meets, qualified for Junior Nationals, and competed in University Nationals in 2020.

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Sports have always played an important role in my life. I lettered in three varsity sports in high school: Football, basketball, and baseball. Our football team won the 2008 NYS Class C Section IX Championship and our basketball team won the 2007-2008 NYS Class NYS Class C Section IX Championship and Regional Championship. My high school coaches had a profound impact on my development as a person. I always knew I wanted to coach and try to have a similar impact on others. When I got hired at Shenendehowa as a social studies teacher, the opportunity presented itself for me to begin coaching at the high school level. That eventually led to me coaching and developing players in various camps and clinics. I have always tried to focus on the fundamentals behind the specific movements of the sports I coach. When I started doing CrossFit, I realized the tremendous benefits that this style of training can have on athletes at any age. As I have continued to work on my own fitness, I have become more focused on movement efficiency that allows athletes to perform at a higher level and prevent injuries. I now get to use what I learn in the world of CrossFit and fitness with my high school athletes and vice-versa.

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In my youth, I enjoyed a lot of success as an athlete. I was blessed with a decent amount of natural ability, and my athleticism carried me pretty far. But once I started losing out to younger, bigger, stronger, faster, and more skilled athletes, I realized that just showing up wasn’t enough anymore. And when combined with the challenges of being a full blown adult (career, marriage, kids, homeownership, etc…), I began to struggle not only in my athletic pursuits, but also in my general health and fitness. I realized that for long term success, I needed to stop making excuses and just do the work. Now, I’m dedicated to sharing that realization with anyone and everyone who is willing to listen.

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We Want To Offer You The PERFECT Membership For YouR NEEDS.

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