Adaptive athletes and advocates take on the NinjaForce Obstacle Gym

Ben Blewett and Kris Corder aren’t strangers to athletics. After all, they have both been competing in Special Olympics for several years. But on Thursday night at the NinjaForce Obstacle Gym, they were both physically tested in a way they had never been before.

Taking on swings ropes, running up a wall and climbing to the top and walking across two metal bars , both men were winded but smiling the entire time.

“It’s a good workout,” Blewett said.

These two were in a part of a group of adaptive sports athletes and advocates who gathered to tackle the gym’s obstacle course. Organized in part by adaptive sports advocate Travis Davis, the goal of the event was to see how NinjaForce’s obstacle course could be adapted for athletes who have either a mental or physical disability.

“This is a test, a trial run,” Davis said,”We want to make sure it’s going to be a place where people with physical disabilities can compete in a safe place.”

Davis had help organizing the event from Molly Rennie, who frequents the gym and also works at Sandia Prep, where she is in the process of moving into the role of director of experiential education.

Rennie was inspired by an adaptive sports day held at Sandia Prep in April that Davis helped organize. Seeing an opportunity to bring adaptive sports to the NinjaForce Gym, she brought the idea to Davis.

“It seemed to me that Ninja (obstacles) are pretty adaptable to anybody,” she said. “So I thought we could take this sport and spread it out to a broader community and create more of a connection between adaptive sports and the NinjaForce Gym.”

The gym, which opened its doors in 2015, was founded by Josh Kronberg, who competed six times on the television show “American Ninja Warrior.” The show features a group of competitors taking on an obstacle course that consists of running up a wall, swinging on a rope and crossing a hand-ring bridge.

Kronberg opened the gym, located at 2513 Comanche NE, with the intention of providing a space where he and the public could train for the obstacle course featured on the show. On Thursday, he walked Davis and the rest of the group through the obstacles and supervised their progress.

“I love seeing them try something that might be scary and showing them they can do it. They’re having a good time, and I love seeing it,” Kronberg said.

The plan is to set up more adaptive sports days at NinjaForce Gym and bring in new people each time, according to Davis, who considered Thursday night’s trial run the beginning of something special.

“This is a huge success,” he said. “This is what adaptive sports days are about, making sure everybody had the opportunity to participate, no matter your ability.”