It was never a goal for Heather Nelson to be on “American Ninja Warrior.” The Ninja obstacle courses and workouts were something she got into after she and her family watched the show.
That all changed last week, when Nelson flew out to San Antonio to compete on the show Thursday, March 24.
Ninja is an obstacle course racing sport that combines elements of rock climbing, parkour and gymnastics.
Life Force Ninja, the gym Nelson trains in, opened up about two years ago, and it was around then people began to ask her if she was ever going to apply to be on the show.
Nelson said she told people she would apply when she turned 50.
With her 50th birthday approaching, Nelson applied, a process she said was lengthy.
The online application included questions about Nelson’s background, why she wants to be on the show and what inspires her. It also included a two-minute-long video of her in action and talking about herself.
“In [my video], I really went back to my foundations as an ultra-marathon paddler and expedition paddler and just some things I knew were unique,” Nelson said. “I got a lot of feedback when I went down to the show that people loved the video.”
Heather Nelson flies from one object to another as she works out at Life Force Ninja on March 26. Nelson recently competed for the TV program “American Ninja Warrior” in San Antonio. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Nelson was doing an hour-long pullup set when she saw she had a missed call.
That missed call was from someone with “American Ninja Warrior,” extending an invitation for her to compete on the show in Texas.
Nelson said there was pure excitement after that.
“We were all screaming and running around, that poor guy on the phone,” she said.
Most of Nelson’s athletic background is in swimming, kayaking and endurance races. She said she did a complete 180 when she discovered the sport.
She and her family were building their own Ninja course and obstacles on their property when she caught wind of Life Force Ninja opening in town.
“I immediately tracked down who the owners were and said, ‘Hey, I’m Heather, I’m going to be your first member,’” she said.
Nelson’s training regimen has her at Life Force Ninja five to six times a week working on obstacles and strength training. On top of that, she keeps up with running and also does Spartan training where she said she’s mostly just moving heavy items like flipping tires.
Heather Nelson grabs one hangin grip after another at Life Force Ninja on March 26. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
While competing on the show was an individual thing, Nelson also competes with a team at Life Force Ninja.
Having gone out and competed on the show last week, Nelson said she felt like a little fish in a big pond.
It had all of the things that come with television like an interview room, extra shots needing to be taken for b-roll and being on a set.
“It’s the filming set, but you’re also competing,” Nelson said. “It was just a very different experience.”
Nelson said she competes for the people her age that think they’re too old to do something like Ninja competitions.
“I was standing ready for my run and there was a young man going in front of me and his mom was with him. She was 52 and looked just terrified,” Nelson said. “She just stopped and goes, ‘I’m going to do this next year. I’m going to start training tomorrow.’ That’s why I want to do this. It just meant a lot to me to touch that one person right there.”
Nelson added it means a lot to her to be able to be a mentor to other people at Life Force Ninja, having now competed on the show.
Heather Nelson works out at Life Force Ninja on March 26. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
“I feel like I’m going to be able to break that barrier for other people at the gym being the first to be on the show,” Nelson said.
While the journey to the show and competing has been rewarding, Nelson said she missed her people at the gym back home.
“’American Ninja Warrior’ was amazing because it’s inspiring and you’re doing this cool thing, but I was removed from my people,” she said.
Nelson will be back to competing with her team as they are headed to Greensboro, North Carolina this week for Worlds, which is being held April 1-3.
“That’s more where my passion is — being with the team,” Nelson said. “We’ve got 9-year-olds to 50-year-olds. We have all the age groups covered and you can just run around the outside of the course and cheer for your teammates, and the energy is awesome and the community is super tight.”
Nelson said her long-term goal will always be to keep building community through Ninja, or any other thing, whether that’s from her appearance on the show or with her team and family at the gym.
“We just want to make this a fun, welcoming thing. It just happens to be Ninja that brought us all together into doing this,” she said. “It really excites people, and I just want people to get excited, whether it’s Ninja or not, to follow up on a dream.”
