Ah. Guys.....

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I got 1st place in my division!

This is a UNAA (Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association) where the rules are a little different to the American Ninja Warrior television show. On American Ninja Warrior, you keep going until you fail an obstacle, and your time determines the order you're ranked.

In the UNAA competitions, everyone is allowed to attempt every obstacle... if you fail one you're allowed a retry, and if you fail that retry or fail more than one obstacle, you move on to the next, but you don't get a point for that obstacle. In this course there were 9 obstacles, and competitors had 6 minutes to run the course. Quite a few people timed out before attempting all 9 obstacles. Usually there is one obstacle that takes out nearly everyone, but this course was really evenly spread... almost all the obstacles took people out.

My run time was after about 3 quarters of the field had already run, so I absolutely had the advantage of seeing the best techniques... at the time of my run, only one person had completed all 9 obstacles, and I was the 2nd.

I used my retry on the Ring Hopper, because my feet had touched the ground. It was totally demoralizing because I had a good time, hadn't failed an obstacle yet and I was so totally wreaked... but I somehow managed to do it again and finish it... my arms were totally toast by the end. I thought I was going to fall on the last ring hope, but it looks like my hands are stronger than my arms and I just didn't let go.

I honestly can't believe it... there were so many strong competitors in this competition, 46 overall, most way stronger than me... but luck was on my side. There was the pro division and the amateur division. Pros are competitors that have done well in a UNAA comp before, or have made it to the Las Vegas finals on American Ninja Warrior.

Overall I took 5th place... The first 4 were all pros, and I was the first amateur. On the podium photo, the next two dudes work at this gym and are incredibly strong, but they had run way earlier in the competition and both went out on the Ring Hopper.

I was most nervous about the Warped Wall, so I took my time getting ready for it... I was about at the 5 minute mark so I had a full minute to make my attempt. If I failed it I probably would have come in at 15th or so, but even though I was devestatedly exhausted, I kept my chin up and make it.

I think I might have been the surprise of the day, heaps of pros came up to me and told me how proud they were and I've been receiving messages all day. Only a couple of people knew I had finally gotten the wall two weeks earlier.

At this exact same comp last year, the rules were different, you still had a retry, but once you failed you were out. I went out on the 2nd obstacle. Not bad progress for a plucky young Aussie Ninja.

Of course, no time to rest... next comp in 6 days!

steemaroo divider and ninja upgoats drawn by the incredible @ryivhnn

Australian Ninja Warrior | Australian Ninja Games

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