When American Ninja Warrior airs Monday, a former Canton resident will be showing off his skills.
Several skills, most likely.
Logan Broadbent, a GlenOak High School and Ohio State graduate now living in Cleveland, is best known as a world-class boomerang competitor. He’ll be part of the U.S. team at the Boomerang World Championships in Germany in July, and made me tired just talking about the speed, skill and endurance involved in boomerang sport. He’s also a marathoner and triathlete.
But on Monday, the global strategic deal manager for energy company Current Powered by GE will be seen trying to make his way through the obstacles on the NBC competition, which have included tilted platforms, overhead rings, swinging bars, intense climbing and more.
Broadbent had been thinking for some time about being on the show, now in its eighth season.
“I kept being told by friends and colleagues and family members that I should apply for the show,” he recalled recently. And he finally decided that “this would be a life experience and I should give it a shot.”
“I filled out all the paperwork and my girlfriend (Jami Kinton) helped me put together a three-minute video that just kind of shows your personality and some of your athletic achievements and abilities,” he said. They sent that in January, then “I didn’t get a phone call or anything.
“I had been training a little bit just in case I got that call. But I got so busy with work, and focusing on marathons and triathlons, my running stuff, that I almost forgot all about it. And then I received a call … to be in Philadelphia to compete.
“Then the realization set in that I only had about two weeks to prepare for this thing,” he said. “That I’d better start doing some pull-ups and push-ups and running around on obstacles.”
His other athletic pursuits “made me very well prepared from a conditioning standpoint for what we face,” he said. “The one thing I had to focus on was grip strength, big time. There’s a lot of hanging and climbing (on the show). And then (he looked at) technique on some of the more common obstacles. … A lot of folks go down on the balancing obstacles. They don’t always show it but more than 30 percent actually go down on balance obstacles.”
Preparing still further, he said, “I wanted to talk to other people who had been on the show … so I went down to Columbus to train at a gym that (frequent ANW competitor) Michelle Warnky runs. Then I drove all the way out to Buffalo, N.Y., to train at a gym there with Pat Hall, who has also been on the show. They gave me a lot of tips and were very generous with their time.”
With a full-time job and another sport, why did he put so much effort into this?
“My first goal was to make sure I enjoyed the experience,” he said. “There are many people who train and apply every year and don’t get that call. I realized how lucky I was and I didn’t want to take it for granted.”
In addition, he said, “I hope it brings attention to the (boomerang) sport. This is a great platform to share that.”
So how does he do? With the show wanting to keep results confidential, Broadbent did not want to spill any details. But he has already talked on social media about preparing for the show next year. Asked if he did not get as far as he had hoped, he said, “That’s fair.”
And his involvement was “completely worth the experience. It was a great group of people. Everyone was very welcoming … and encouraging and motivational.”
He could have done worse. Saturday Night Live last season did a sketch with Bobby Moynihan as a competitor who, after a big build-up, failed to even finish the first obstacle. “Everybody was sharing that with me,” Broadbent said. He thought, “As long as I do better than Bobby Moynihan, I’ll be satisfied. And I’m happy to say I made it further than he did.”
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, Ohio.com, Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.