Posts Tagged ‘Ron Dukes’

Northeast Region on Deck

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Better late than never…too much work this past week to be dutiful getting this out! The Northeast region is on deck tonight of G4 for the opening round and then on NBC for Monday night for the regional finals. There are a lot of studs in the Northeast region, and I’m really looking forward to watching them throw down tonight and tomorrow night on the tube.

The Northeast region took place in Miami, and below is a non-comprehensive list of some of the cast of characters you’re likely to see. Forgive me for overlooking some folks…I don’t always know what region competitors are running in, and of course I don’t know everybody, but these are some of the competitors that I have on my radar screen for Northeast:

Tim “Livewire” Shieff – Worldwide parkour champ from 2009, professional free-runner/stuntmen, the guy is a living legend in the parkour/free-running community around the planet. Capable of winning the whole thing.
Chris Wilczewski – See my blog below about Chris and his interview video. The guy is a stud.
Mike Bernardo – DC firefighter and paramedic. I’ve known Mike since we were getting ready to compete both of us for the first time in ANW2. He’s a very strong well-conditioned athlete, and could be a real darkhorse in the region.
Travis Noble Graves – From the legendary Tribe\APK team.
The Amazing Oti – Everybody on the G4 and Sasuke Maniac Forum boards know Oti, and his legendary focus and preparation. The dude is an animal, and a good ninja brother who has encouraged me since I was just dreaming about competing for the first time.
Luis Moco – Stuntman from NYC/Boston, good dude and very strong.

And many others…(forgive the jumbled list, rushed to get this out before a long flight): Jamie Rahn aka Captain G4/NBC, Mike Needham, Phil Pirollo (owner of Pinnacle Parkour), Danny Johnson from PA, Travis Weinand from The Warrior Lab, Noel Reyes from NYC/FDNY, Dan Galiczynski aka Gravity Forged (sick gymnast from PA), Elet Hansel Hall parkour stud from MD, Michael Pericloso a dancer from NYC, Ron Dukes personal trainer from Philly, and Gabe Arnold also from Pinnacle. All super-strong competitors capable of going deep in American Ninja Warrior 4.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Amazing Experience, Incredible Camaraderie

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Although I am bound by the Non-Disclosure Agreement all competitors must sign from talking about actual performance (they don’t want to ruin the suspense of the show when it airs in December), I’m still allowed to talk about my general experience and what it was like to compete.  It truly was an AMAZING experience attending the weekend event at Venice Beach and getting to meet the other obstacle course nutjobs who also competed in the event.  Running the course itself was certainly a dream realized and a ton of fun, but I have to say the comraderie among the competitors was singularly the most incredible thing of the experience.  Everybody was genuinely excited to meet and support each other, I didn’t see any instances of people “sizing each other up” and wishing failure on each other, it was nothing but love and support and mutual admiration.  I have to say it was one of the most unique experiences deeply connecting with a random assortment of other people.  Specific mad props to Brian Kretsch, Ryan Stratis, David Gabel, Mike Bernardo, Ron Dukes, Larry Rabena, Jason Huewe, Travis Furlanic, David Campbell, Gabe Cort, Christopher Christensen, Brett Sims, Ryoga Vee, Christian Okruhlik, Kelvin (Grandpa Ninja!), PJ Hradilek, Travis Rosen, Matthew, Chris, and the Amazing Oti for your friendship and support!  I know I forgot to include a few people here, but the love is still there!