In the build up to Memorial Day, nearly 30 daring individuals from around the Athens area pushed their bodies to extreme limits to pay tribute to military personnel who sacrificed their lives in service to the United States.

The exercise they completed Friday morning, known nationally as “The Murph Challenge,” is an annual fundraising event in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Michael P. Murphy.

According to the fundraiser’s official website, Murphy was a Navy SEAL who sacrificed his life to save his unit in a gun battle in Afghanistan in 2005. In 2007, Murphy posthumously received the highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his valiant effort.

“His family started this national fundraiser years ago to raise money to help other families who lost a loved one in the line of duty,” Brittany Olson, the owner of Balanced Bootcamp, said. “We’ve been doing the challenge here in Athens for a few years now, and everyone loves it because we really try and push ourselves for this occasion each year.”

The grueling workout consisted of a one-mile run around the indoor track at the Athens Recreation Center, followed by 100 sit ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats and another one-mile run to end the challenge. An hour-long exercise that is guaranteed to leave all who partake in different shades of red, white and blue.

“When you think about this hour workout, it can be very daunting at first,” Olson said. “But then you think about all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of our country, and it becomes a silly workout.”

The workout started at about 8:30 a.m. on Friday, and if the clear signs of exhaustion were not enough evidence of these event-goers patriotism, then the colors of the American flag certainly were.

“It has really become a big event for us, and I think the way people dress up for it shows just how much they love it,” Olson said. “Obviously you wouldn’t do this if you didn’t love it, but that love grows when you know you are doing it for something that is way bigger than yourself.”

Local military, police and firefighters were all invited to join in the workout, with some going above and beyond in honor of the fallen soldiers for the Memorial Day workout.

“I’m wearing a 20-pound vest and I know I have some other ladies wearing a 12-pound vest on top of everything we have to do,” Olson said. “It really just goes to show that we have the ability to accomplish so much, and a lot of that boils down to the freedom that we have because of the sacrifices of those in the Armed Forces.”