A Week of Hero WODs Raises Funds to Provide Service Dogs for Veterans
Murph is a mainstay in CrossFit’s culture. Local boxes do it on Memorial Day; Josh Bridges iconically crossed the finish line first at the 2016 Games; and there is an ever-growing number of people completing extreme Murph challenges throughout the year.
One Kansas gym, 2020Fit in Prairie Village, is putting a new twist on tradition–a week of hero workouts, culminating in Murph, to raise money for a charity supporting veterans.
Co-owner of 2020Fit Jeremy Whiteford, a retired Navy helicopter mechanic, found CrossFit in 2010 through a friend and crewman. After returning to the United States and moving to Kansas City, Murph has always been a yearly highlight.
The gym has nearly 600 members, most of whom Whiteford says take part in the event somehow. In fact, Whiteford said his most pervasive memory of Murph at 2020Fit was in 2019, before COVID hit, when a record number of people threw down in the event.
- “Seeing other people do it for the first time, dig down deep, and finish a hard workout, I get a lot of satisfaction from that,” Whiteford said.
Whiteford was integral in spearheading the gym’s new plan for 2022–a weeklong event with five Hero workouts programmed as the class WOD, culminating in Murph on the Friday before Memorial Day.
The Workouts:
- Monday: Danny Dietz
For time:
1-Mile run
26 Power Cleans
80 Push-Ups
-1 minute rest-
600-Meter run
28 Front Squats
50 Pull-Ups
- Tuesday: Coffland
6-Minute cumulative hang from bar
Every time you break:
800-meter run
30 Push-ups
- Wednesday: Riley
With a weight vest (20/14)
1.5-Mile run
150 Burpees
1.5-Mile run
- Thursday: DT
5 rounds:
12 Deadlifts (155/105)
9 Hang power cleans
6 Push jerks
- Friday: Murph
For time, with weight vest (20/14)
1-Mile run
100 Pull-Ups
200 Push-Ups
300 Squats
1-Mile run
The best part? Not only will athletes be participating to memorialize fallen soldiers, but will also be raising funds for a local nonprofit, Friends of In Service Heroes (FISH).
The gym has a goal of $10,000 to raise over the week, which would cover the cost of a service dog for a veteran with PTSD and anxiety, one of FISH’s services. The ambitious goal initially made Whiteford weary, but the event has been welcomed into the community with overwhelmingly positive views, including members who say they’ll cover whatever leftover costs come from the week. In fact, Whiteford has a (not so) far-off goal to provide two service dogs.
- “I’m excited about doing all the workouts, putting people through the challenge of doing hard stuff. I’m really excited to be able to provide a service dog for a veteran, that’s what I’m most excited about. . . And our (event) shirt is pretty sick,” Whiteford said. “It means a lot.”
To help FISH and 2020Fit in their pursuit towards raising money for veterans, you can donate here.
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