Murph at Romeo Athletics

On a sunny morning on the last Saturday in May, a group of people lined up inside the gym at Romeo Athletics in Enfield, CT  listening to Coach Dan announce an overview of the day’s workout.  The “Murph,” he explained, was the workout of the day, or WOD, done this Memorial Day weekend in honor of U.S. Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005.  The WOD consists of a 1-mile run, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats, and then another 1-mile run…completed while wearing a 20-pound weight vest or body armor as it was performed by Lt. Murphy as his favorite workout. 

The group included people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, with a couple of participants in their 60s and even a few newly graduated high school students.

An atmosphere of excitement swirled around the room while the participants followed Coach Dan’s lead during the warm-up stretching routine. All with various levels of fitness but a strong willingness to be there, the group prepared for what promised to be a long and difficult workout.  “Let’s get lined up!”, Dan shouted as the team fell in line and out the back door to the starting position.  

Inside, the clock counted down to zero and ‘GO!” was shouted at the group. They took off in a sprint down the asphalt to make their first lap in the 1-mile run. Inside the gym, some positioned themselves on rowing machines and rowed the equivalent distance instead of hitting the pavement - a movement better for the knees - but nonetheless executed with the same determination and focus. 

As they finished the first mile, one by one the runners came into the gym, running to their positions on the racks and jumping up to begin the arduous pull-up, push-up and air-squat sequence. Some of the advanced members did full pull-ups, some performed a modified movement with ring rows. Either way, everyone present was full of determination to get to the end of the WOD. 

As the minutes ticked by, tiredness started to set in, with some taking a few seconds break, some sighed and some moaned… but continue they did.

Even the newly graduated high schoolers struggled and stopped to breathe as the pull ups and push ups wore them down.  “Keep going” members shouted to one another.  “It’s a place where they want all of us to do well,” I was told later since I was a newcomer and there to watch the event. 

One-by-one as they completed the inside portion, the participants went back outside to run the last grueling mile of the “Murph.” Some running quickly, some trotting, some walking, but one-by-one they finished.  “I did it!” one shouted, hoarse and parched from the run. 

As I watched the people ‘fist bump’ congratulating each other on their completion, I came to understand that this was more than a place for people to exercise.

Romeo Athletics was a place where the participants had found a community of like-minded people who, with support and coaching, were doing things many of them struggled to do - but they achieved the fitness goals they thought they couldn’t reach. 

Worn out, exhausted and spent, nonetheless each was happy for each other that they finished the “Murph”, truly a fitting tribute to an American hero.

Written by: Cyrus Moulton

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