00:00So this weekend we're having the MRF Challenge.
00:02So the MRF Challenge is a workout, it's what we call a hero workout.
00:07So a lot of fallen soldiers have a workout that they liked or did during their military service,
00:13and this is a way to memorialize and remember them through a little bit of pain and sacrifice of our
00:19time.
00:19So we host the MRF Challenge every year over Memorial Day weekend.
00:24Again, it consists of a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and then another
00:31one-mile run.
00:33If you feel up to it, you wear a 20-pound weighted vest. That's the way that a workout's supposed
00:37to be.
00:38It is a very grueling workout, so you don't do it weekly usually.
00:43We do a lot of preparation with a few months leading up to Memorial Day weekend just to get your
00:48body back ready for it.
00:50But 100 pull-ups is a lot of pull-ups, especially if you have a 20-pound body arm or
00:56vest on.
00:58Does it ever get easier?
00:59It really doesn't get easier. I think it's because of my age.
01:02Every year I get older, so I don't think it's ever going to feel easier.
01:05But it's one of those things that I look forward to.
01:08There's a few other workouts that I do that are hero workouts that are mentally challenging
01:12and physically grueling where at the end of those you have a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment
01:22because you know you just put yourself through something very difficult
01:26and hopefully you're understanding what those people went through in the last moments of their lives.
01:33So this year right now we have 366 signed up.
01:37I'm expecting probably another dozen or so more that did not register correctly
01:42and they're just going to show up.
01:43But we're welcoming anybody who would like to come that day.
01:46If anybody has forgotten to sign up, they're more than welcome to show up
01:50and we'll make room for them.
01:52How many people did you have last year?
01:54We had a little, about 280.
01:56So every year it's been growing here.
01:58This is our fourth year at the museum and this will be our fourth year open.
02:02So I had a really bad accident in 2022 and it left me paralyzed.
02:06And so I was in a wheelchair, unable to walk, talk, read or write for a while.
02:11And I came to the museum as a sense of motivation and just to like hopefully inspire me
02:16to like keep working my therapies.
02:18And when I was here, Chris invited me to come to the MRF Challenge for the first time in 2024.
02:23And when I came here, he ended up giving me an award for, I guess, just perseverance,
02:28even though I think it was for charity.
02:30But I'm really grateful for it.
02:32And just being here and being able to see like everyone working towards a common goal
02:36and the shared suffrage across each other.
02:39And everyone was working and putting the work, putting like the sweat.
02:43And just like I saw people crying.
02:44I saw people bleeding.
02:46And everyone was just like, had like a shared amount of discipline.
02:49And they were all working to honor Michael Murphy.
02:52And to me that was like really special.
02:53So I set a goal for myself that the next year I would work really hard to beat the paralysis
02:58and try to accomplish the MRF.
03:01And I was successful in doing that in 2025.
03:03And then now this year, the upcoming MRF in 2026, I just want to do better than I did last
03:07year.
03:08What was your time last year?
03:10Oof.
03:10I don't even remember, honestly.
03:12Do you know?
03:13Yeah.
03:14I don't think it matters.
03:16Yeah.
03:16Not for the first MRF after being paralyzed.
03:20I don't think that matters at all.
03:22Yeah.
03:23That wasn't charity, that award, okay?
03:27But that award was because you inspired me by being here.
03:32And I was hoping to inspire you to have a little more effort in your physical recovery.
03:39So that's why I did that.
03:41And it was more for you and not charity.
03:45And I think what you did that year was you inspired 300 people that were there unknowingly, right?
03:52You didn't know you were going to do that.
03:54They didn't know you.
03:55And everybody did one more rep for you that year.
03:58So it was a very touching and emotional event for me and everybody who joined us.
04:06When I finish high school, I want to attend the United States Naval Academy and pursue a special warfare.
04:12Do you want to be a Navy SEAL one day?
04:13Oh, yeah.
04:15You want to be a frog man?
04:16Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet.
04:17The MRF challenge is designed to, like, it's not like if you're grading one thing, you'll be grading everything.
04:21Like, it's really balanced out.
04:23So you have to be strong in every single aspect.
04:25So for me, at least, the pull-ups were really hard because since I was paralyzed, I didn't have a
04:29lot of, like, back strength.
04:30So being able to do that was a struggle.
04:33But, and also for me, pacing myself because I went all out in the first mile.
04:37Because, oh, wait, this is easy.
04:39Just one mile.
04:39And so I went, I ran like an eight-minute mile or whatever.
04:42And then I came back and I remembered, oh, shoot, I still have to do 100 pull-ups, 200 push
04:46-ups, 200 air squats,
04:47and then finish it with another mile.
04:48So I think pacing yourself is probably the most important thing you can do to make sure you finish it.
04:53I mean, I almost had, like, a heart attack.
04:55For me last year, like, I forgot to take my medicine, like, the morning before.
05:00So, like, I was off, like, all my heart medicine.
05:02So, like, for me, especially after the run, I was, like, my heart rate was at, like, 250.
05:06And then I kept trying to do, like, the pull-ups and stuff.
05:08So, like, that was definitely probably my hardest point.
05:11But I still remember, like, being surrounded by everyone, working towards that common goal.
05:15So I was able to, like, stay dialed in, stay focused.
05:18And I just had a tunnel vision of just trying to complete it.
05:21And then I was alongside of my friends and family.
05:23So they kept me motivated to complete it.
05:25But that was your first Murph ever, right?
05:28Yeah.
05:28So that was his first time ever.
05:31And then also first time, you know, not being in a wheelchair and things of that nature.
05:37So not having all of the little tweaks and efficiencies to do the Murph, I'm not surprised.
05:44But I still commend you for doing that.
05:48I was so impressed.
05:49You continuously impressed me.
05:51And, well, for me, I mean, personally, I don't think I wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for, like, the
05:56fruits of labor of all my team who helped me get to where I'd be.
05:59Like, where is that?
05:59It's Chris, my mom, my PT, my OT, like, everyone.
06:02And having everybody at the Murph to see me complete it, that was definitely the most, like, meaningful part to
06:07me.
06:07Because, like, I just didn't want to be a burden for anyone.
06:10So just being able to complete it for them and, like, in my opinion, in, like, my eyes, I kind
06:15of honored I did the Murph for them just to prove to them that, like, if you put your mind
06:20to something,
06:20you're able to achieve it.
06:22And as long as your mind wants something, your body will, like, listen and it will follow you.
06:26So just, like, pushing past that, like, your perceived limit and just going farther than that, to me, that's, like,
06:32what I really liked about the Murph and how, like, it represented it.
06:35The Murph is a full-body kind of workout.
06:39So you're challenging all aspects of your body.
06:43So you've got your lungs for running.
06:45You have your pull-ups, your back, your, you know, push-ups, chest and arms, and then your legs for
06:49your air squats.
06:50And then running again.
06:51So all of that put together, it makes it a very difficult part.
06:56So for me, it's more the running.
06:59And then I have a problem because my arm, I actually have, you know, permanent nerve damage.
07:04So my one part of my body doesn't work as well as the other.
07:07So the push-ups, I'm having, I know I have a limitation.
07:11So the push-ups are very challenging to me.
07:14And that is more of a mental, mental block than anything else because I just feel like everyone's watching.
07:20I think there's quite a few people that shock themselves because they don't prepare and they don't have, maybe they
07:27haven't done it before, but they are athletic and they just sign up for it.
07:30It's their first Murph.
07:31And I do believe that the excitement of being around other people like fitness experience, all of that, you know,
07:37he ran really fast the first mile because he was excited.
07:41You know, so you get that energy and that atmosphere.
07:43So when you're around that, you may not pace yourself.
07:46So I believe there's quite a few people that usually show up, get humbled a little bit, and then maybe
07:53next year they know to kind of throttle back a little bit or they prepare better, you know, for the
08:01Murph.
08:01So what's your best recommendation on how to prepare for this?
08:04Well, usually what I would always recommend is to take it in little small chunks.
08:08So a few, a month or so leading up to it, maybe even two months, do like a quarter Murph,
08:13you know.
08:13So just do 25 pull-ups, you know, 75 push-ups and break it up, you know.
08:18So just start with little sections of that.
08:20So like even this morning I did in the Murphs on Saturday for us, today's Wednesday, I did a half
08:28a Murph, you know.
08:29So I just took that workout, cut it in half, did it.
08:32So my body's used to all of those repetitions and things like that.
08:36So I think just taking it in small bites, even during the Murph, small bites.
08:41To me, personally, it doesn't matter how fast you are.
08:45It's just you pushing yourself a little further than you thought you would or during that workout, like you were
08:52asking.
08:52Like during that workout, when you get to that little mental block where your mind's saying,
08:56oh, I don't know if I can do this, that you push yourself another rep, right, rep or two, further
09:03than you thought.
09:04Because then that's a win, that's a victory.
09:06So I'm not looking around looking for people and saying, hey, you did it in this time or you didn't
09:11do all your push-ups.
09:12It's the best that you can do where you get an emotional reaction from the Murph Challenge,
09:18especially during Memorial Day weekend when we're honoring our fallen.
09:22And was that a big MO of Mike Murphy, just keep going, keep pushing, persevering?
09:27It definitely was Mike Murphy, and I think it's just more of a Navy SEAL kind of mindset of never
09:33quit.
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