SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Beginning at 6 a.m. Friday, 10 Team Schriever members gathered for the annual fitness challenge, The Murph,
The competition is in honor of U.S. Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, who created the workout, which consists of a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 body squats, followed by another 1-mile run, and who was killed in action on June 28, 2005 while serving in Afghanistan.
The goal is to finish the competition in an hour or less, and participants are able to complete the calisthenics in any order they choose.
According to Seth Cannello, 50th Force Support Squadron, 18 people registered, but only 10 participated due to cancellations and no shows.
For the first time in 8 years, a new male took first place: Michael Morris, 2nd Space Operations Squadron.
Morris finished with a time of 34:40; followed by Matthew Cork, 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron with a time of 36:24 and Brady Weaver, 50th Operations Support Squadron came in third with a time of 39:36.
Morris participated in The Murph in 2015, and felt he did pretty well in this year’s competition.
“I had just finished up Season 4 of ‘Vikings’ the night before so I was pretty amped going into the competition. It’s great to see the Fitness Center promote such a grueling and worthwhile workout. Hopefully it continues to garner attention as a Memorial Day tradition,” said Morris.
Cork said the competition was incredibly difficult, but “working hard for an awesome cause was really incredible.”
Cork chose to do the work out on his own, and got allotted a slot at 10 a.m.
“It was nice because I got to operate at my own pace, but it was also hard because I got to operate at my own pace, and there was no one around me to compare to,” Cork said.
When asked what his favorite part of the competition was, Cork said finishing.
“By the end of it you just have jelly legs and you’re really just trying to gut it out,” he said.
Ana Shockey, 50th Security Forces Squadron’s earned her first Murph win of the year with a time of 41:35. Genelle Martinez, NSDC, finished second with a time of 46:08.
“I did better than expected,” said Shockey. “The worst part was the run. I’m not bad at running.”
Shockey will participate in another Murph competition on Memorial Day at her local CrossFit gym, CrossFit Decimate, with her plate carrier.
For more information about upcoming fitness events, contact the fitness center at 567-6628.