American Ninja Warrior's Oklahoma State Capitol episode airs June 12

The show wouldn’t start for hours, but there were already lines of Oklahomans waiting at the State Capitol for their opportunity to cheer—and cringe—as people who dedicated years of their lives to physical training went up against the American Ninja Warrior course.

On a pair of weather-challenged days in April, the show’s production team came to Oklahoma City to film the third episode of its eleventh season.

By 7 p.m., a group of nearly fifty contestants gathered around the course for a walk-through of the obstacles and a refresher on the rules. Their faces were stony with concentration, but a quick glance at their feet showed the true mood of the crowd. Much as they tried to contain their excitement, their feet bounced as they walked, arms shot up in the air with questions, and the look in their eyes was pure fire.

The couldn’t wait to start . . . and they couldn’t stand to fail.

But making it through the course isn’t enough. Only the top two fastest competitors of the semi-finals will move on to the finals. Survival won’t do. They have to thrive.

Getting in shape wasn’t a problem for Ephraim Taylor, a tree-removal salesman from Broken Arrow.

“I’ve always worked out, but after my kids were born, I started getting into more full-body weight training,” he says. “We built our own course and jumped in with both feet.”

Still, it takes guts to go from your backyard to a nationwide audience, he says.

“You’re always nervous ’til you do it,” Taylor says. “I’ve learned to embrace the nerves.” ves.” [cite:

Former U.S. Marine and current stay-at-home mom Cody Hucal of Ardmore says her challenge came from her kids’ lack of confidence.

“We were watching American Ninja Warrior and my kids were all encouraging my husband to try, but when I said I’d like to give it a shot, they said, ‘Mom, you couldn’t do this.’” she says. “That’s all the motivation I needed.”

In her second year competing, Hucal says she felt comfortable knowing what to expect from the course, but also because her biggest detractors became her biggest champions.

“My kids are six, eleven, and thirteen, and they’re all at the gym with me every day, pushing me to go harder,” she says.

Venn Johns, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu mixed martial arts fighter and professional bull rider from Broken Arrow, says he had to leave his usual training partners—angry bulls—for a few months prior to American Ninja Warrior to make sure he was in peak physical condition for the course.

“I had three hardcore injuries last year,” which seriously hampered him, he says, even though he made it to the city finals last go around.
This “bull-riding ninja” says it’s like Christmas when American Ninja Warrior comes to town, because all of his friends and family come together to watch him compete.

There was another family man who tried his hand (and legs and feet) on the Oklahoma State Capitol course this year. Governor Kevin Stitt came out before filming and took a run at it. He completed two of three obstacles and only very slightly bloodied his elbow in the offing.

You can watch the Oklahoma City stop of American Ninja Warrior June 12 on the following NBC affiliates:
KTEN in the Ada area
KFDX in the Lawton area
KFOR in the Oklahoma City area
KJRH in the Tulsa area