St. Pete's Crossfit9 and Bayboro Brewing team up for Memorial Day 'Murph' workout and fellowship

This Memorial Day, many Tampa Bay locals will opt to honor those who have died while serving in a grittier way: By spending an hour completing the Murph, a workout created by and named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed in combat while serving in Afghanistan.

On Monday, May 30 at 8:30 a.m., CrossFit 9 is teaming up with Bayboro Brewing to host the uber-intense workout, then head over to Bayboro for food, drinks and fellowship. The two businesses are local faves located in St. Pete’s still-funky Warehouse Arts District downtown.

CrossFit 9, located at 2727 6th Ave. S, is one of St. Pete’s original CrossFit gyms, owned by dynamic duo Lindsay Alvestad and U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Zack Ola.

Bayboro Brewing, at 2390 5th Ave S just a half-mile from CrossFit9, is known as a “town hall” for beer aficionados. Its delicious local brews, cool atmosphere and badass collection of hats is owned by St. Pete native Kelcy Coleman and her husband James, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and USF alum.

The Murph workout consists of a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and a second one-mile run. It is scalable for all fitness levels (even people who have been CrossFitting for years usually modify the workout).

Lieutenant Michael Murphy was a man of honor, integrity and character. He earned the name “The Protector” in high school for defending others against bullies, then went on to double major in psychology and political science at Penn State before joining the Navy SEALS.

His tour in Afghanistan was his fourth deployment. While on a mission in the mountains, Murphy and his team had no signal to make a distress call. Murphy knowingly gave up his shelter—and his life—in order to gain a better position to make the distress call to try and save his men.

While it’s always fun to celebrate three-day weekends and fresh air and barbecue, it is also important to recognize the reason for this day: To honor. To remember. And to mourn those who have died while serving in the United States armed forces.

Tickets are $20 and are available on Eventbrite. All proceeds will be donated to Signatures for Soldiers, a local nonprofit that supports veterans in the Tampa Bay area.