STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
A 1.9-mile Honor March and the Murph Challenge will be part of the Memorial Day Celebration in Ketchum.
- Boulder Mountain CrossFit will host its annual Murph Challenge first thing on Memorial Day—Monday, May 27. Registration begins at 7 a.m. at the Ketchum Town Square with the Full Murph kicking off at 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and a Half-Murph at 9:30 a.m.
Murphy’s Challenge is a CrossFit workout honoring the late Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL who risked his own life even after being severely wounded to save the lives of his comrades in a battle with the Taliban. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2007 and CrossFits around the nation have staged The Murph Challenge in his memory.
The full workout is comprised of 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats and a mile-long run. Registration starts at $45 with proceeds going to Higher Ground SV, which provides therapeutic recreation to wounded warriors.
Two local CrossFit members--Casey Scherer and Mike Pfau--will sweeten Higher Ground’s take even further, by doing a 24-hour Murph Challenge on Saturday and Sunday.
- A 1.9-mile Honor March will leave Ketchum Town Square and head for the Ketchum Cemetery at 9:30 a.m., with a Warthog flying over about 10:30 a.m.
Marchers will walk from Ketchum Town Square to Main Street, then follow the sidewalk along Highway 75 to the cemetery.
- The annual Memorial Day ceremony performed by Ketchum’s American Legion will start at 11 a.m.
Lt. Col. Brandon N. Christensen, commander of the 366th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, will provide the keynote speech. And there’ll be a reading of “In Flanders Field” and a 21-gun salute.
Soldiers’ graves, which date back to the Civil War, will be marked with a white cross and American flag.
- Marchers will continue down the highway to Saddle Road following the ceremony where they will turn and follow Saddle Road past the YMCA to Warm Springs Road, which they will follow back to Ketchum Town Square.
Live music will start at the square at noon, along with activities for kids from noon to 2 p.m. There also will be an Honor Wall to salute, and Sawtooth Brewery will have brats and beverages for sale.