Movie stars Chris Pratt and John Krasinski got together on Memorial Day to honor fallen United States Navy SEAL officer Michael P. Murphy by doing the Murphy Challenge ,which may be one of the hardest workouts ever created.
According to People:
Each Memorial Day, gyms across the country perform the workout — a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats and a final one-mile run while wearing a 20-lb. body vest. The challenge raises money and awareness for the LT. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
“The ‘MURPH’ is more than just a workout, it is a tradition that helps push us, humble us, and dedicate a bit of pain and sweat to honor a man who gave everything he had,” according the foundation’s website.
The actors posted videos to their Instagram pages (below) encouraging fans to learn about Mike Murphy and “the many brave men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country that we think about and honor today, Memorial Day.”
“It’s a day like today when we commemorate those fallen heroes and say thanks for all you do to make our dreams come true,” Pratt said.
“So today, whether you do a Murph Challenge or just take some time to say thank you and remember, remember that’s what today is all about,” Krasinski said.
Both men have played Navy Seals on the big screen, Pratt in Zero Dark Thirty and Krasinski in 13 Hours.
Pratt remarked to TMZ about his Seal training in preparation for the film, “I barely touched the tip of what these guys have to go through,” explaining that the actual training program “helps to boil down the toughest mofos on the planet.”
Lt. Murphy was killed during Operation Red Wings in 2005 at the age of 29 in Afghanistan while fighting the Taliban:
[He] left his cover position and went to a clearing away from the mountains, exposing himself to a hail of gunfire in order to get a clear signal to contact his Headquarters for relaying the dire situation and requesting immediate support for his team. He dropped the satellite phone after being shot multiple times but picked the phone back up and finished the call, while continuing getting shot upon he even signed off saying, “Thank You”, then continuing fighting from his exposed position until he died from his wounds.
He was posthumously awarded the military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
