BURLINGTON, N.C. — Scott Sumner had trouble sleeping last night. He was anxious and restless. His heart was racing at times, “I was laying in bed thinking about what I had to do over and over again in my mind and I started to get very anxious about it,” said Sumner.
It was almost a relief when the sun started to rise, and Sumner could get up and head to the gym. While most people were still sleeping Sumner and a handful of people were honoring our fallen heroes in their own special way, “We do this workout to honor all veterans, especially the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said Sumner.
The workout is named after Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy who was killed in 2005 while on a reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan.
Murphy would often workout by running two miles sandwiched around 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 air squats, “Well it’s hard, it’s not easy that’s for sure,” said Sumner.
At a CrossFit gym’s all across the state and country, including 584 CrossFit in Burlington, thousands and thousands of people honored our fallen veterans by doing the “Murph” workout as they call it, “You take this hour or however long it takes you and you give everything you got and you finish that workout because the veterans finished their assignment,” said Mitch McCallister.
Retired from the Air Force, McCallister served from 1983 to 1987. The workout to him is a way of honoring and respecting the men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms, “It’s an emotional day because I truly understand the meaning of it, it’s not just a day off work, it’s a day to celebrate those folks that gave the ultimate price,” said McCallister.
On a day we honor our fallen veterans this group of Crossfiters chose to give “everything” they had to a workout. They pushed their bodies, fought through the sore muscles and the burning pain to finish a workout designed by a true American hero, “I think a lot about him while I’m working out, he didn’t quit and he didn’t give up,” said Sumner.
While gyms across the state remain closed during the pandemic, members of this gym decided to come together on this day to honor the men and women who lost their lives. It was the first time the gym has been open since late March.
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