Murph 2024 Recap: 50 Belltown Athletes, One Brutal Workout

Memorial Day morning at 3025 1st Ave

The first runners hit the front door of the gym at 7:42 AM. Coach AJ was already in the parking lot, vest on, finishing his second mile, walking it off after a 38-minute Rx Murph. Members were spilling out of the rig area, sweat-soaked, pull-up bars vibrating, the chalk in the air thick enough to taste.

This was Murph 2024 at Persistence Athletics. 50 Belltown athletes. One brutal workout. The longest morning of training the gym had run that year.

If you have never done Murph, here is the prescription: 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run. Done in a 20-pound weighted vest if you are doing it Rx. Named for Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005. Run on Memorial Day at CrossFit affiliates across the country. We have run it every year at Persistence since we opened.

I'm Ravi Dewangan, CFL3, MS in Strength and Conditioning, and CrossFit Seminar Staff. I program our Murph day every year. This is the recap of the 2024 event: 50 athletes, real times, real stories. Updated April 2026.

Table of Contents

• The morning briefing: 50 athletes, four heats
• Heat 1: the elite group hits the floor
• Heat 2 and 3: the long middle
• Heat 4: the finishers
• Real times: the 2024 results
• How we coach Murph at Persistence
• Frequently Asked Questions

The morning briefing: 50 athletes, four heats

Murph day at Persistence runs as four staggered heats over about three hours. We start the elite group at 7:00 AM, the second heat at 7:30, the third at 8:00, and the finishers at 8:30. The structure spreads load on the rig, gives every athlete real coaching eyes, and lets the early finishers cheer the later ones.

At 6:50 AM, 50 athletes were standing in the warm-up area. The energy was different from a normal class. There was nervous laughter. People were checking vests. Coach Jacque was walking the group through partitioning strategy: most athletes were planning 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats (Cindy partition).

Six athletes had announced they were going unbroken. None of them succeeded. That is part of Murph.

The briefing was short. Run the first mile easy. Honor the workout. Cheer the finishers. Drink water between runs. Tag a coach if anything feels wrong.

We started Heat 1 on the dot.

Heat 1: the elite group hits the floor

Eight athletes in the first heat. Coach AJ went vested. So did three members. The first mile splits were what told us how the day would shape up.

Manny finished his first mile in 7:18. Two members finished in 7:40 and 7:55. The rest came in between 8:30 and 9:30. Heat 1 had the gym to themselves on the rig for the first 25 minutes.

The first round of partitioned reps moved fast. Pull-ups were sharp. Push-ups were clean. Squats were aggressive. By round 10 (50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 squats in), the pull-up rate had dropped about 40 percent. By round 15, athletes were doing pull-ups in singles. This is normal. Murph is a grip-and-shoulder destruction event by the back half.

Manny finished his rep work in 22 minutes (extraordinary). Member Devang Mistry, going unvested, finished his rep work at 28 minutes and was out the door for his second mile. Member Aidan Fleischer was right behind.

The second mile is where Murph reveals you. Legs are fried from squats. Grip is gone from pull-ups. Push-ups have detonated your shoulders. The mile that felt easy at the start now feels like it is uphill in both directions.

Manny ran his second mile in 9:42 (vested). His total time, 38:14. The fastest Rx Murph at Persistence in 2024.

Heat 2 and 3: the long middle

By 8:30 AM the rig was full and the parking lot was alive. Heat 2 had hit the floor. Heat 3 was warming up. The first heat was finishing or done.

This is the real heart of Murph day. The middle heats are where the workout is happening at full volume. Three coaches on the floor (Jacque, AJ, and me), real-time scaling adjustments, athletes taking the partition strategy in 30 to 60 different directions.

Some athletes were running 20 rounds of 5/10/15. Some were running 10 rounds of 10/20/30. Some were doing 100 pull-ups straight, then 200 push-ups straight, then 300 squats straight (a brutal strategy that almost always blows up). Some were partitioning 25 rounds of 4/8/12 to keep moving.

Member Katie was running her usual disciplined splits. Member Eric, doing his first Murph (this was the same Eric who is in our Eric's back pain to pull-ups story), was running a beautifully scaled version: ring rows for pull-ups, knee push-ups for push-ups, full squats. He finished in 1:04:12. He looked like someone who had just done something he had never thought he could do.

The middle heats are also where the cheering happens. The early finishers from Heat 1 are sitting along the walls eating bananas, drinking electrolytes, yelling at the athletes still working. By Heat 3, the gym is loud. Real loud.

Heat 4: the finishers

The last heat at 8:30 AM is what we call the finishers. These are the athletes who knew they would take 70 to 90 minutes and wanted the room to themselves at the end. Some are first-time Murph athletes. Some are coming back from injury. Some are over 50 and pacing for completion, not time.

Eight athletes in Heat 4. The Heat 1 elite group was sitting along the wall with cold towels and bananas, cheering every rep. The energy was different. Quieter. More patient. Murph at minute 70 is a different workout from Murph at minute 35.

The last athlete crossed the line at 1:31:48. She had run scaled distance, scaled pull-ups, scaled push-ups, full squats. She had not stopped. She had not quit. The whole gym was on her last 100 meters.

That moment, the last athlete crossing, the entire gym yelling, every coach on the floor, that is what Murph day is for. The workout is the medium. The community is the message.

Real times: the 2024 results

The full distribution of finishing times from our 50 athletes in 2024:

A few specific real-member highlights:

• Coach AJ. 38:14 Rx vested. The benchmark for the gym in 2024.
• Devang Mistry. 41:33 unvested. Personal Murph PR by 4 minutes from prior years.
• Aidan Fleischer. 43:08 unvested. Second-fastest member time.
• Katie. 47:21 unvested. Disciplined partitioning, identical splits across all 20 rounds.
• Eric. 1:04:12 scaled. First-ever Murph. (See Eric's full transformation story.)
• The last athlete to finish. 1:31:48 scaled. The whole gym at the line.

How we coach Murph at Persistence

The coaching for Murph day starts about 4 weeks out. We program pull-up volume into the regular classes. We add longer aerobic intervals. We coach the partitioning strategy in the week before the event. We do not surprise athletes with Murph. We prepare them.

On the day, the coaching is different from a normal class. Three coaches on the floor. We are not teaching technique. We are managing pace, hydration, scaling, and grip preservation. The biggest job is keeping athletes from going out too hot in the first mile.

The most common mistake I see on Murph day is the unbroken pull-up attempt. Athletes who try to do their first 50 pull-ups unbroken almost always fail at rep 30, then are gassed for the next 30 minutes. The partition strategy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats x 20) is what gets people to the second mile in good shape.

For the broader sense of how the gym works year-round, our about page covers the founding story and culture. For the team that runs Murph day, see our coaches page. For how a normal class is structured (compared to Murph day), see group classes.

For the rest of the community story, our member transformations hub covers five longer member arcs, including Eric's full back-pain-to-pull-ups story. Our member stories collection profiles five members in shorter form.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Murph and why is it done on Memorial Day?

Murph is a hero workout from CrossFit, named for Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2005. It is a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, 1-mile run. Done in a 20-pound vest if you are doing it Rx. CrossFit gyms across the country run Murph on Memorial Day to honor service members. We ran our 2024 Murph day at Persistence with 50 Belltown athletes.

How long does Murph take to complete?

Time bands at Persistence in 2024: sub-40 minutes was elite (3 athletes), 40 to 50 minutes was strong (12 athletes), 50 to 60 minutes was solid (18 athletes), and 60+ minutes was finishers (the rest). Coach AJ ran a sub-40 with vest. Top member time was Devang at 41 minutes. Most first-time Murph athletes finish between 55 and 75 minutes scaled.

Can a beginner do Murph?

Yes, with scaling. We scale every Murph variation. Common scales include reducing run distance to 800 meters, swapping pull-ups for ring rows, swapping push-ups for incline push-ups, and partitioning the rep scheme into 20 rounds of 5-10-15. Half of our 50 athletes in 2024 ran scaled versions. Every one finished. Murph is hard but accessible if scaled correctly.

Do I need to do Murph in a 20-pound vest?

No. The vest is the Rx (prescribed) version. Most members do Murph without a vest. Of our 50 athletes in 2024, only 8 did the workout vested. The vest adds significant time and difficulty. Doing Murph without a vest is still a serious workout and counts. Honor the workout, do not hurt yourself.

What should I do to prepare for Murph if I want to attempt it?

Build pull-up volume in the 4 weeks before. Practice partitioning rep schemes (20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats is the most common partition). Do at least one 1-mile run at workout pace in the prior 2 weeks. Hydrate well in the 48 hours before. Eat a normal breakfast 2 hours before the workout. Most failed Murphs come from going out too hot in the first run.

Will Persistence run Murph again next Memorial Day?

Yes. We run Murph every Memorial Day. The 2025 event was the largest yet. We will continue running it as our annual community gathering. Members and non-members are welcome. Scaled and Rx versions both available. Watch our group classes page closer to Memorial Day for sign-up information and start times.

Try a free first class at Persistence Athletics

If reading this made you want to be at the next Murph, that is the right reaction. The way to be ready next Memorial Day is to start training now. Your first class at Persistence Athletics in Belltown is free, scaled to your starting point. Book your free class at 3025 1st Ave, Seattle. We will see you on the rig.