Run Honoring Long Island U.S. Navy SEAL Returns After COVID-19

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Dozens of people turned out on Long Island on Saturday in tribute to a hometown hero at a popular annual event, in person for the first time in two years.

The annual fundraising event, Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy Run Around the Lake, is run in memory of the sailor from Patchogue who was killed during Operation Red Wings in the Kumar Province of Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. It was held in person this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, but with some changes.

Instead of being staged at Lake Ronkonkoma as it has in years past, runners got their start at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge as organizers — just like Navy SEALs — had to improvise and adapt to 2021, according to the event’s website.

Race lengths were also adjusted to 5K and 15K, but some brave souls did complete the “50 for Murph” challenge as in previous years. Those who completed the course not only had bragging rights to share, but also some “Murph” swag, according to organizers.

The run was also held virtually, like it was last year, for those who could not attend in person.

Murphy, 29, was leading a SEAL team when it was ambushed by the Taliban, and Murphy went out on a ridge to call for help, making himself vulnerable to gunfire. Murphy, as well as two others were killed, and only one teammate, Marcus Luttrell, survived, and he later recounted the story in the book, "Lone Survivor," that he co-authored.

The account was later turned into a movie of the same name starring Taylor Kitsch as Murphy and Mark Wahlberg as Luttrell.

Murphy was posthumously recognized with the Medal of Honor, and also has the rare honor of being one of the few sailors who had a Navy destroyer named after him — the U.S.S. Michael Murphy, which is based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Locally, the U.S. Post Office on Main Street has been renamed after Murphy, as well as the campus of Patchogue-Medford High School where he attended high school. There are also plans for a museum to Navy SEALs in Sayville that will be dedicated in his name, and the Navy's Sea Cadet Division based on Long Island is also named in his honor.

Murphy’s name has also been added to a Navy training pool, as well as a park in Lake Ronkonkoma where he worked as a lifeguard. There is a memorial dedicated in his honor at his alma mater Pennsylvania State University.