I had a full day to rest after I finished my b-roll and hero shots. During that time, I met up with some family and explored L.A. which included going right next the Hollywood walk of fame to the Guitar Center. I loved that store because at the front of it, it had the handprints of many rock legends that I look up to in music. As much as I could go on and on about that, I want to get to the good stuff.
The next day was the day I waited my whole life for. It was time to go to the set of American Ninja Warrior and make my rookie appearance. Before we took the hour-long bus ride to set, all 60 competitors that I was running with gathered in the lobby of the hotel. It was nice to talk to some of them and see who it was I would be running with. There was so many of us that they needed two buses to fit us all. As I sat in my seat on the bus, I kept thinking: “This is it. It’s finally happening. This is everything I ever wanted.”
I had a window seat which is my favorite seat. I remember it was about halfway through the ride and I looked to my right and I saw the Hollywood sign. In case you’re wondering, yes, Party in the U.S.A. started playing in my head.
We finally arrived on set at about 6 o’clock at night. Everyone started settling in the competitor tent and finding where they were going to spend the rest of the night. One thing you can really see in that tent is the friendships that everyone has already started forming. Everyone is taking spots next to their friends. Once everyone was mostly settled in, we all gathered outside the tent in front of the American Ninja Warrior poster that was up, and we got a picture together. I was standing next to Flip Rodriguez (who I always dreamed of competing alongside of). Again, it was all happening. Everything I ever wanted was right in front of me.
About an hour or so after arriving on set we’re get led over to get our first look at the qualifying course. When I tell you the obstacles are bigger in person, I mean its menacing how big they are. From the ground the obstacles look almost two stories tall! They’re only about fifteen feet tall and you fall into pool that’s roughly three to four feet deep but that’s beside the point. The obstacles themselves are big and each one spans about twenty feet long. In person that is scary to think about. As the rules are going on we get a demonstration of how to complete every obstacle which shows us that the full course can be completed. During this time many of the competitors were planning how they were going to go through every obstacle. They were planning what they think is the best and fastest way to clear the course. Unfortunately, we weren’t given any time to plan the course after the rules. Thankfully, I was one of the ones planning my course during the rules. I felt ready. All the moves on the course are the exact things I was focusing the most on in my training. We were ushered back to the competitor tent and waited until the sun went down.
8pm rolled around. The sun had just set. It was gametime. The tent goes quite as the first guy takes the course. He was one of the teenagers and a rookie. All eyes were on him. By pure shock to everyone he blew through the course and set a lightning-fast time on the course. He cleared the six-obstacle course in just under one minute and twenty seconds. What a way to set the pace for the night. The bar was raised super high at the beginning of the night. My hopes for clearing this course were getting higher. As the night went on, I made friends with a few of the competitors in the tent. All of us anxiously waiting for our time to crush the course. We were watching the other competitors go on the course and many of them were falling super early on the second obstacle. Maybe the first runner was a fluke? Concerns started rising in my mind and the minds of others. How hard was this obstacle? Are we underestimating it? Nearly half of the competitors who have run fell in just the second obstacle. At around runner number 18 they stopped everything and tested to see what was going on. Why was everyone falling? Too many people have fallen, and they aloud competitors who fell on the second obstacle rerun the course after they fixed it. I was nearly ready to go, and they had to run nearly half of the competitors again. After they made their fix a more people cleared the obstacle, some fell but only by having poor technique. Everything was finally running smooth again. My turn was quickly approaching. It was a chilly night in the forties which made it hard to warm up, but I felt good. When I was the next runner, I was escorted behind the first start platform.
I start to get really anxious, and I feel my body start trembling with excitement. I’m currently standing behind the stage of my dreams. The only thing standing in front of this stage is a small five step staircase. Tears build up in my eyes as I wait for my cue to walk up on stage. I quickly wipe my tears and lock in. They give me the go ahead to go up the steps. There’s no turning back now.
Next week will be my last blog post but . It is going to cover my qualifier round and man there is a lot to be said. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions that you don’t want to miss. Be on the lookout for that.