Memorial Murph

The Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center hosts the 2023 Memorial Day Murph on May 27. This event is held in memory of Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was killed during service in Afghanistan and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first Navy sailor to earn the distinction since Vietnam.

This event is a timed event with the goal of finishing in one hour; however, it will continue until the last person completes the program.  The event combines a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air-squats and another one-mile run -- all while wearing a 20-pound vest or body armor. 

Participants can compete in the full event or scale it down with modifications. Vests/body armor are optional and will not be provided.

Free T-shirts will be given to those who complete the event in person (while supplies last) at the Fitness Center.

Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy's story:

Murphy was a Navy SEAL who was thrust into the spotlight after his life had ended. The upstate New York native was part of a four-man team scouting a Taliban-aligned militant while high in the Afghan mountains on June 28, 2005, when all hell broke loose. The team was spotted by some locals, who reported their position to the Taliban, and a fierce firefight ensued.

Murphy and fellow SEALS Matthew Axelson, Danny Dietz and Marcus Luttrell were outnumbered, wounded and forced into a ravine. They couldn’t get a good signal under cover, so Murphy put his own life on the line, going out into the open to transmit a call for help. He got shot in the back during this time, but finished the call and still made it back to cover with his men.

He eventually died, as did Dietz, Axelson and 16 service members who were shot down in a Chinook helicopter while trying to rescue them. Luttrell was the only survivor, who managed to escape and get help from friendly villagers, who took him in, nursed his many injuries, kept the Taliban away and eventually got him rescued.

The incident was the single largest loss of life for the SEALs since World War II. Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, was the first Navy sailor to earn the distinction since Vietnam.