Twenty-eight-year-old athlete, fitness coach and former contender in ITV’s Ninja Warrior series, Danny Morgan, has set himself a gruelling 48-hour challenge starting on Wednesday 11 November to mark Remembrance Day. Danny, also known as the Primal Coach, will be doing a 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 press ups, 300 squats and a 1 mile run as many times as he can, on repeat for 48 hours, while wearing 20lb body armour – all to raise much-needed funds for Help for Heroes.
Danny, from Southampton, decided to do his challenge as he is passionate about the Armed Forces and the sacrifices that they make to protect our country.
He says, “I have family and friends who have served in the military and what they do is incredible. They have one shot at life and they give it to us. Every day, more servicemen and women have their lives derailed as a result of being medically discharged because of mental or physical wounds, I knew I wanted to do something to give back to them and show them that we’ve got their backs too.”
His challenge is called the “48Hour Remembrance Day Murph” as it is based on a well-known military workout which was named after US Navy SEAL, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. This CrossFit workout was one of his favourites which he referred to as ‘Body Armour’, and 15 years his legacy lives on.
Danny had planned to do the challenge alongside a team of socially-distanced supporters who also signed up to take part, including 400m record holder Iwan Gwyn Thomas, ultra-athlete Josh Llewellyn Jones OBE and Ninja Warrior finalists from around the world. However, due to the national lockdown he is now having to do the challenge totally on his own at local gym, Barbell Division in Quayside Business Park. So instead, he will be streaming it live on Instagram (@_DannyMorgan_) and Facebook (@ThePrimalCoach). In addition he will have a Zoom call open for 48 hours and projected on the wall in front of him so he can interact with friends and family throughout his event and they can give him moral support.
He adds, “While this is a tough physical challenge, it’s going to be even tougher mentally. Although lockdown means I’m going to have to do this on my own, this didn’t bother me so much. I’m good at self-motivation, plus knowing that I am playing my part, doing my bit for the community and also managing to contribute to our heroes is a bonus. But having people physically with me that wanted to support me and pull me through that darkness, that was going to be a beautiful display of community spirit and I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t.
“So, it’s great that technology means that I can still have human interaction. I hope lots of people will tune into my live streams to show their support, help me push through the pain or join in with their own 48Hour Murph Challenge.”
To support Danny’s challenge, people can donate via his fundraising page, https://www.gofundme.com/f/48hourmurph.
The timing of Danny’s challenge to raise funds for Help for Heroes could not be more important as the need to support veterans has never been greater. The charity’s income has been hit hard this year as a result of the pandemic, with all its face to face fundraising events and activities since April being either cancelled or postponed. At the same time, Help for Heroes has seen a 33% increase in those coming forward for mental health support and a 30% increase in referrals to veterans’ clinical services. It is predicting a 30% reduction in regular income in coming years due to economic recession and has had to undertake a restructure to keep the promise it made on behalf of the nation 13 years ago to be there for our wounded veterans for life.
Beth Miles, Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs for Help for Heroes, comments: “The last few months have been tough for everyone across the country, and as a charity we have seen a significant impact on our fundraising activities. We simply couldn’t provide the support we do without the creativity and generosity of people like Danny, and we are very grateful to him and everyone who contributes to our fundraising efforts.”
To see more about the challenge and why Danny is doing it go to https://www.facebook.com/Dannyleighmorgan/videos/10160099186615730.
People can also join the challenge by live streaming via any of their social media platforms and either completing one full ‘Murph’ (with or without a weighted body vest) in support of Danny’s 48 hour challenge or, for an easier challenge, do 48 minutes of heart raising exercise whilst tagging @theprimalcoach @helpforheroes and using the hashtags #48hourmurph & #remembranceday.