Abby Clark: American Ninja Warrior

To kick of Season 3 of the 603 podcast, Dan Egan is joined by Abby Clark, one of the most accomplished women on American Ninja Warrior, to talk about what it actually takes to “hit the buzzer” when the obstacles are brand new, the water is cold, and one hand placement that’s off by half an inch can end your season.

Abby walks us through nine seasons of competition, the feeling of landing her first buzzer, and the long stretch of warped wall frustration that played out on national television year after year. We get deep into ninja training and technique, including how the salmon ladder really works, why athletes use a mixed grip on free-spinning bars, and why balance obstacles can be more dangerous than the biggest upper-body moves. If you’ve ever wondered how American Ninja Warrior rules work, we also break down qualifying advancement, racing formats, and what changes mentally when the show turns into head-to-head battles.

Then we zoom out to life beyond the course: staying an athlete after college, blocking out negative noise, owning a ninja gym, and exploring where obstacle course racing could go next with the sport growing worldwide. 

All this and more on the 603podcast.

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For more information about the 603podcast visit 603podcast.com 

Transcript

Season Three Kickoff And Sponsors

Dan Egan 0:00

Hi everyone, I'm Extreme Sports Pioneer Danny. And I'm excited to welcome you to our third season of the 603 podcast. This season, we'll continue exploring the personalities, communities, outdoor adventures, local legends, hidden gems, and authentic experiences that define life here in the 603. Of course, a big shout out to our sponsors, Matriver Coffee House, right off of Exit 28 in Gift and Hampshire. Alpine Adventures in Lincoln, New England's premier adventure destination. And Walesdale Water Park, New England's favorite water park. Where this summer admission is just $29 after 2 p.m. Hey, be sure to follow us on Instagram at the 603Podcast. And online at 603podcast.com. Now let's get into season three of the 603.

Abby Clark Joins The Show

Dan Egan 1:05

Hey, we're back on the 603, and I'm so excited about this episode. I've been following this athlete for quite a while, and I've known of her, and it's amazing to watch her on America's Ninja Warriors show. She's one of the best ninjas in the country, and if not the world, and she hails from Holderness, New Hampshire. It's Miss Abby Clark. How are you doing, Abby?

Abby Clark 1:30

Hi, good. How are you? I'm so excited to be here.

Dan Egan 1:32

Oh, it's great to have you, and it's so exciting to watch you on national television do the crazy things that the ninjas do. Did you ever dream that you would be on the national stage on primetime TV?

Abby Clark 1:49

I did not see this coming. I grew up in gymnastics and track and did a ton of sports growing up and you know went to college for rehabit disability, working with kids in with special needs and autism. And even through college, I if you had told me that in a couple of years I was going to be on American Ninja Warrior and eventually making it my you know full-time job with the gym and everything, I'd I probably would have laughed. I would have been like, I don't, I don't even know what you're talking about. That's crazy. But it's been it's been a wild ride.

Dan Egan 2:23

It's a wild ride, and it it it's such a huge competition, and and you've done very well.

Nine Seasons And Buzzer Moments

Dan Egan 2:33

Tell us about your best finish, uh, your ranking, and uh yeah, tell us give us the nickel tour of the highlights.

Abby Clark 2:41

So I've been on American Ninja Warrior for nine seasons now. Um my first season, I was just I'd only been doing ninja for six months, so I really didn't know anything. I was really relying on my gymnastics training and just kind of going off of that. But my second season, which was season 10, was my first season I ever hit a buzzer. It was I I didn't know it was coming, but it was the best feeling ever to hit the buzzer. Um, and then I've been to the national finals a few times. Um, I've hit now, I think, six buzzers, I believe. They've kind of racked up over the seasons, but the past couple seasons I've become a lot more consistent with hitting buzzers. You know, I had that buzzer back in my second season, and then I kind of had a buzzer drought, I guess. I had a run in with the warped wall a couple times and had a really tough time overcoming that. And I had to make the warped wall to get a buzzer. So I had a couple seasons that weren't my best. And the past few seasons I've really found the consistency again.

Dan Egan 3:47

So hitting the buzzer means you've completed the whole course, right?

Abby Clark 3:50

Yes, hitting the buzzer, you've you've completed the course, you don't fall in the water at all. And we don't get to practice the course ahead of time. So when you get, and you don't know the obstacles. So when you get onto set, they for filming that night, they will walk you down the side of the course, they'll tell you the rules for the obstacles, they'll um have someone demonstrate the obstacle so you at least know kind of how it works. And then when it's your turn to compete, that's your your only chance to go. There's no two runs, there's no redo's. Um, so when you hit the buzzer, it really is special. Like you've nailed it on your first try, and it's exciting.

Dan Egan 4:26

Quite amazing uh to watch all of the athletes on on America's Ninja Warrior uh complete the course. It's a it really boggles the mind. But to hit the buzzer, to have completed it, just bring me to that moment over the years. You've hit so many.

Abby Clark 4:42

What's it feel like when you're like, oh yeah, each each buzzer feels a little bit different in terms of the emotions that come with it. My first buzzer back in season 10, that was just like pure joy and excitement. First time ever feeling it, first time ever being up on the warped wall. Like you hit the buzzer, you're now 14 and a half feet in the air, and your eye level with the um commentators, Matt and Okbar, and you're looking down at all the fans, everyone's going wild. And and then some of my other buzzers, I had again, I had had a few seasons that I didn't hit buzzers, and then finally isn't hitting a buzzer in season 16. That one was more of like a relief of all right, the first one wasn't just like a freak thing, or or that like I just got lucky in season 10. And so that one was more of like a relief of okay, the work you're putting in is is paying off, and it was nice to see it pay off. And then to hit it again in season 17, it was that one was more of like an excitement, just really enjoying it again and and just feeling like like I really belonged up there.

Dan Egan 5:51

Oh, there's no doubt you belong up there. Um and so but you you've made it to the finals, right? You've you've done that a few times. How many finals have you made?

Abby Clark 6:01

I've made the Vegas finals season 10, um, season oh gosh, 16, um, 17. There may have been one other in there. Um, so three or four times. Um and each one's a little different. Vegas finals, you know, hitting buzzers is your goal, but the Vegas finals is is the finals. Like that's ultimately your goal. Like I've hit buzzers and qualifiers, and then it's right back to work because you want to make it to the finals. Um, so it's there's a lot of little steps in there, but the finals is just in the in the past, it's just so big and so fun, and you know you've reached like the end.

Dan Egan 6:42

And for those of you who haven't watched American Ninja Warrior in a while, uh it's they keep progressing the obstacles. Yes. They will blow your mind what what these athletes have to do and what you have to do, Abby. Um there seems like there's a little bit of a buildup during the course, right? There's some sort of balancing, there's some sort of jumping, climbing, the fish ladder. Uh, but then you get out over the water and things are spinning, you have to twist, you have to jump, you have to gap.

Abby Clark 7:13

Yes.

Dan Egan 7:14

Talk me through what it feels like, you know, midway through. Are you

Course Strategy And Obstacle Technique

Dan Egan 7:19

just thinking, are you feeling tired? Are you feeling energized? What's happening?

Abby Clark 7:24

So the course generally, you have you have your qualifiers, then you have your semifinals, um, and then your finals. And and in the previous seasons, they've tweaked the format a little bit. Um, but in general, your your qualifier course starts with like a lower body obstacle, and then you'll have an upper body obstacle, and then another lower body, followed by two more upper body, and then the warped wall. So it kind of goes back and forth in terms of upper body and lower body. But as it goes on, um I start to get tired probably around like really like the fifth obstacle. So I I only have one more upper body obstacle left, and I know that. Um, and you know, the warped wall is lower body, but each I try and just stay in the moment. So each obstacle, that's the only obstacle I'm worried about. I I don't think about what I've done. I don't think about how much more I have left. I just stay right in the moment of that obstacle. And once that's done, I switch right to the next one and just kind of mentally forget about things and move on. But um, I start to get tired, but you know, you're over water and sometimes it's really cold, and sometimes um you just know what the ultimate goal is and you don't want to go in that water. So we just do everything we can to, you know, fight to the very last like like bit of muscle that we have. And some sometimes it goes our way and we can get through it, and and sometimes we fall because we're tired, sometimes we fall because like the slightest technical difference. I mean, there's been times where I've fallen because my hand has been off like a half an inch. Like it it can it can go so fast, and sometimes with some of these obstacles, they're so fast paced that even being off for a half an inch, you have no chance to recover from it. And it's just you you know it instantly, and it's it's just the way it goes. But um you kind of know what you're going to expect in terms of the layout of the course, but you just never know what they're gonna, what obstacles they're gonna bring your way.

Dan Egan 9:28

And and you know, some of the classic obstacles, of course, I think are popular. So the fish ladder is to me, I think was like the beginning of workouts and in a and a movement, right? Because it became a thing. It became a thing in gyms, it became this physical thing for a recognizable thing. And I what I want to know is the body movement of getting up to the next run. Yeah. What are you doing there?

Abby Clark 9:58

Even if you don't watch American Ninja Warrior, a lot of people still know what that is. And so you see it in the gyms. Everyone, whenever someone comes into the gym, they want to try the salmon ladder. Like they want to try it. Um, it's a it's a fun obstacle, it's a combination of strength and technique. Some people, if you're lacking a little bit of strength, you can kind of swing into it a little bit more. But ideally, it's just a really strong, powerful obstacle because you want to get up as fast as you can. Um, the longer you spend getting up each rung, those are precious seconds that you're spending hanging on an obstacle that you don't want to waste. So it's just, it's fun. It's just, it's so fun to do it because it's so iconic. Um, and I remember doing it for the first time on the show and just being like, oh my gosh, like the bar was a little heavier than I thought, but I made it and it's it's it's a lot of fun.

Dan Egan 10:55

It looks like it's a little bit of a pull-up with a thrust.

Abby Clark 10:59

Yes, yes.

Dan Egan 11:00

And the hips are crucial, right?

Abby Clark 11:02

Yeah. So it's a the the upper body you're thinking about um a pull-up, but you really want to pull instead of like a typical pull-up when you pull your just your chin to the bar. This pull-up needs to be like your chest is getting to the bar, and you have to um like explode off of it. So not only are you getting up, you have to kind of you're pulling down on the bar so hard that then you're able to kind of pick it back up again. And then your hips are are working with you to help with that upwards momentum. And there's a lot. You're pulling up, you're kind of pulling down on the bar, it's coming out, and then you have to put it back into the next rung rung. So when a lot of people are learning it, they'll pull up and they'll they'll be able to get the bar off the rung, but they either don't have the height or they're not putting the bar back into the rung. So there's a lot going on. It looks like the idea of it is pretty simple. Like, oh yeah, you're just hopping the bar up up these rungs, but um there's a lot going on.

Dan Egan 12:04

And this is really fascinating. Uh, I've just got to share with the audience as she's explaining this, her hands are in are in opposite grips.

Abby Clark 12:13

Yes.

Dan Egan 12:14

And I want to talk about that. So one is a sort of an overhand, one is an underhand. Yep. Why? And it was interesting that you did that in explaining it.

Abby Clark 12:22

So yeah, so so naturally when I'm explaining it, I'm like going through the motions while we're sitting here. But the the the one hand forward, one hand backwards, we call that like a mixed grip. And the reason we do it is because that salmon ladder bar, or we do it on on a lot of bars, they're free spinning. So when they're sitting on, when they're sitting on that rung, they can they can spin. They're not like set where it's not gonna like they're not fixed in there. It's not like when you jump up on a regular pull-up bar or pull-up machine at the gym and and the handles don't move. This bar just sits on its own. So it it can spin. There's like a string that goes through it, but it'll move. So when you when you put one hand backwards, one hand forward, it almost locks it into place in between your hands. Um, it doesn't always make it easy, but it makes it easier. It's a little less taxing on your grip because you're not fighting the spin of it. Um, and that's a technique we use when we're really doing a lot of things with a bar that's, you know, on its own, flying bar where you're flying through the air with the bar. Um and we do practice, you know, switching our hands the other way. Everyone has a natural way. I naturally turn my left hand backwards, but you know, we have to practice the other way because sometimes you need the bar to go a different way. And we don't want to get into a competition where you don't know how to do it because you've only practiced it one way. So there's it's the the technique that goes into the sport and and the little things. A lot of people don't recognize that when they're watching the show or when they're watching any ninja competition that we do. There's so much technique involved. And you know, that goes for watching. I grew up in gymnastics, and so I pick up on and understand a lot of the techniques that um the girls or guys are doing, but when you watch it with someone who's never done it, there's so much that just isn't you just don't realize it. Um, and and that's one thing with ninjas, it's so hard, and there's just so much technique involved.

Dan Egan 14:29

It it's really it's amazing. So, and then there's the lower body obstacles, which seem to require a lot of balance.

Abby Clark 14:38

Yes.

Dan Egan 14:39

And uh when I watch somebody fail on the round running across the balls or the the blocks or something spinning and balancing, you're always like, oh, what a shame. Because it appears to be easy.

Abby Clark 14:55

Yes.

Dan Egan 14:55

One, is it easy? And two, what's the trick to keeping your feet and your progress moving forward without spinning off even the spin, the bar, like the big rolling bar, stuff like that?

Abby Clark 15:08

Yeah, so the the balance and agility obstacles, they're they are hard. It is, I would say it's probably more frustrating to fall on like a balance or agility obstacle, just because in our minds, like it should be easier. Um, you know, we train so much upper body, and like the sport is majority upper body. So when we fall on like a balance obstacle, we're like, oh, this that was so silly. Like, what are we doing? Um, but but there is a lot that goes into it. It's it's balance, it's agility, it's being able to move your feet quickly and being able to position yourself and your weight in the right spot. So some of the ones where you have like the rolling logs sideways and you have to run across like four or five of them, and they all spin. Um, you know, you have to be able to place your foot in the exact spot right on top. If you're if you're a half an inch behind and you're and you're on your toe, it's spinning backwards and you're gonna lose it. Or there's um the diamond dash, it's like a bunch of diamonds that like diamond-shaped flat pieces that you run across. And if your foot's a little too far in front, the thing's gonna tip forward. So we practice, um, we do speed and agility workouts because of these obstacles. Um they're very easily overlooked, and it's just there's like you have to be an athlete, like you have to be able to move your feet, and you have to be able to precisely put your feet where you need it because it is a matter of inches that could totally throw you into the water.

Dan Egan 16:44

Abby Clark, uh, one of the stars of America Ninja Warrior, hailing from Holderness, New Hampshire. Fascinating conversation today. And one thing that is really interesting is uh there's a couple of sort of uh ways

Getting Cast And The Pizza Origin

Dan Egan 16:59

to make the show. One is through qualifying, I'm assuming, but the other one is a backstory. And you have to be an interesting athlete, which you are. So tell us the backstory that pulled you through initially to get to the world stage.

Abby Clark 17:12

Yeah, so for the show, it is a TV show. Um you do have to submit a written um application as well as a video each year. So even though I've been on nine seasons, I still have to submit that written and video every single year. It gets a little easier. Like now I don't have to be quite as um thorough with my video. Like they know me and they they're only looking for certain things now each year. But um originally I I felt like you know, you watch the show and some of these people have, you know, they have a a really tough time that they went through or something, you know, something tragic. And and you know, you hope that you never have that type of story and the people that have and have gone through those those times, it's incredible. But I was like, I don't, you know, I don't really have that. I I grew up, you know, in in rural New Hampshire. And um, you know, in my in my mind, I had an amazing childhood. I I was just I really was just an athlete. Like I've just always been an athlete through college, and I just want to keep being an athlete. So that was that was kind of the the direction I went. I was just honest and you know, here I am. I just want to be, I want to be the best. And I I still want to compete now, even though I'm done with college, you know, just because I'm done with college doesn't mean I have to stop being an athlete. And I just kind of went from that that like direction. And, you know, my first season, I'd only been competing ninja for not even competing, I'd only been training ninja for about six months. And so even without knowing a lot about ninja, just like my pure athleticism and competitiveness uh kept me involved in ninja. And I, you know, it didn't do great my first season on ninja. I think I fell on the I don't know, the fourth obstacle. I didn't even make it out of the qualifying round. And but just wanted to come back. They they uh cast me again for season 10, which was my second season, and that's when I hit the buzzer. And once I hit the buzzer, you know, as not as many females are hitting buzzers. And so when I hit that buzzer, it was kind of like, all right, like this is definitely what I'm you know, my what I'm supposed to be doing right now, and they kind of kept me involved seasons after that. And but you know, I just I just approach it. I'm just an athlete. I just want to I want to compete at the top and I want to train hard. Um, and they seem to like it.

Dan Egan 19:43

I mean, that's a powerful message. Uh that when you realize, you know, yeah, I'm graduating university, I'm graduating college, but I'm not done as an athlete. And in in gymnastics or so many sports, there's not many opportunities. This is a rare opportunity for you to continue doing being physical and proving yourself.

Abby Clark 20:03

Yes.

Dan Egan 20:03

Uh would you say with all your accomplishments through gymnastics over the years and track, uh Ninja's one of the best, or do you have other uh accomplishments as an athlete that you're super proud of?

Abby Clark 20:15

Yeah, I mean, I think each one of them I've accomplished things that I'm proud of, you know, in that in each in each sport. Um, gymnastics, that was my absolute number one favorite sport I've ever done. It was, I was just obsessed with it growing up. And I did it through college and just put so much work in day in, day out. Like I, I really wasn't going out partying in college. I was going to bed at 10 o'clock at night. And um I ended up my last competition ever. I won the national championship on the balance beam. So I think, you know, my accomplishments in that sport was just pure like you put the work in, you get the work out, and you might have to wait for a little bit. I wasn't, I didn't go into college. I wasn't the best, you know, gymnast on the team. I'm coming from a super small town in New Hampshire that you don't always see these, these really good gymnasts coming from. And I was driving an hour to gymnastics every day to practice. And so that was just, you know, you you just have to work really hard. Track was, you know, they're all similar. Like track, I I couldn't imagine giving up. I went to a division three school because um, for college, because I was able to do gymnastics and track. I I wanted to be a multi-sport athlete. I I needed that um multi-sport feel uh mentally. I needed that switch just for a season. I just a little bit of break from gymnastics. I focused so much on track and then got right back into gymnastics. And I didn't accomplish, you know, on paper, my my track accomplishments don't equal my gymnastics or ninja accomplishments, but I hurdled um since middle school and I had never practiced. On a track till I got to college. In in high school, I was practicing on a on a basketball court outside. I had I had never run more than four hurdles in high school, other than when I ran um at Meets, and I was undefeated my regular season in my senior in high school. So being able to produce the results that I produced through track, you know, means so much to me. And you don't need a lot to work with. You just need something. I just needed a hurdle. And that was that was that. And then Ninja, Ninja, I think the accomplishments I've done through Ninja, they've created my like my life now. As an adult, like I I've been able to make it my life. And I've um the fact that I've been able to stay in the shape that I'm in as an adult. And you know, seeing seeing people like just as soon as they're done with college or high school, think I'm just because I'm done with college and high school, I have to be done with sports. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to keep being an athlete. And I think a lot of people should continue that. Um, I would like to see that more. So hopefully through those accomplishments, like you, I can kind of prove that you know you can be in your mid-30s and still at like the best shape you've ever been in in your life. Um, I would argue I'm just as strong now, if not maybe a little stronger than I was in gymnastics. Um, and I'm double the age. So it's each one is a little different. And um I don't think I can like rank them.

Dan Egan 23:40

Inspirational words by Abby Clark here. My mind goes back to uh middle school track uh and watching kids run and and you know, let's go, Plymouth. We need a track, we need some lights up there at Plymouth Regional High School. I mean, look at the accomplishments of this athlete training uh in the gym and outside in the parking lot, uh just undefeated, and where you can go with that. Uh every every kid these days needs to hear that story. Thank you, Abby. That's amazing to me. Um so you know, you have this idea that, oh, you're not quite done being an athlete. Uh and there's lots of things to do out there. You could have been a mountain biker, you could have gone Spartan, you could have gone. There's all these ultra, you know, hundreds of different ways to go, but you end up on national television, on America's Ninja Warrior, NBC, right? Like no bigger stage than that, the home of the Olympics. Um, this is amazing. So, how do you go from that thought, I'm not done being an athlete, to on NBC? Like, did you see yourself doing it visually? That was the idea that the competition was multi-sport, was the magic sauce?

Abby Clark 24:56

So, right after college, I knew I wanted to continue and I needed something to compete in. Um, because I had done track, I ran cross-country in high school. I love running. I grew up running with my dad. And um, so I started actually, uh, I did a half marathon. I needed, I signed up for a half marathon because that was the the distance that I had never run before, and I knew I didn't want to go out and just run it um without training for it. Like naturally, I I can go out and run a 5K without training. I can go out and run a 10K without training. That's just kind of the way I am. Some people are like that, some people aren't. Um, so I set it as a half marathon because I knew I it was a goal, and I knew I needed to, you know, take the steps to achieve that goal rather than just sign up and and go run. So I was running a lot. Um, and then one of Joe and I's teammates from Springfield College from gymnastics, his name's Connor. He was a grade or two below us um at Springfield, but he had already gotten into the Ninja Warrior training. And he's from Long Island. Joe and I were living on Long Island at the time. This was 2016. So we were out of college for about a year and a half. And Connor was getting into Ninja. He there was a local competition, and Joe and I were doing like CrossFit type workouts, but Connor was like, why don't you guys just come watch? Like it's you know, we hadn't seen each other in a little while. We were gonna meet up and hey, like, just come watch this competition, and really low-key, it didn't wasn't a part of the show. And we were like, oh yeah, that sounds, that sounds fun. And then Connor's mom said she was like, if you guys compete, I'll buy you guys pizza. And this competition's in Brooklyn, so we're not going to turn down Brooklyn pizza. So so we actually signed up to compete at this competition. We had never done ninja in our lives. We were in shape totally. Like we had we had been doing, you know, some good workouts, but never had done ninja. And this was a cool competition because you got to like train for an hour and then you competed, and which was perfect, but I was so new to ninja that I that first hour, I didn't even know like what to do for training. Like I didn't know how any of these obstacles worked. So come time for the competition after that training, I fell on like the first obstacle, and then I fell on so many others after that. But just the the movement of the sport um reminded me so much of gymnastics. And I think it was the closest I could get to gymnastics without actually doing gymnastics. And so once we did that competition, that was November of 2016. We were like, that's it. We're we're in it, we love it. Um, and that following May was my first season on the show. Um, we just the second we did it, we just fell in love with it. And we knew the the body control that was involved in it. You know, we we had that from gymnastics and we knew it was something we could, you know, continue to build on. And so that was it. So I guess like what got us into ninja? I mean, really, it was a slice of pizza that got us into ninja. So it was it was definitely a strange way to get into it, but it, I mean, it just things are just you know meant to be sometimes.

Dan Egan 28:19

So great to to hear that backstory. I love it. Um I hope you put some of that in in your video.

Abby Clark 28:25

Yes, oh yes, that that we have the show definitely knows that.

Dan Egan 28:30

If you're a fan of the show, which I am, and a fan of yours, which I am, uh, I knew of the warp wall struggle and to watch you kind of do that. And and it, you know, it was it was more than a season. Yes, it was a couple seasons, and there must have been some self-doubt there trying to overcome this obstacle. Um, what is it that they chant when you're doing the wall?

Abby Clark 28:52

Beat that wall. I've heard that so many times, and sometimes you hear a lot of cheers at the end of it, and then other times it's oh take me to the warp wall.

Dan Egan 29:04

Explain first of all, explain the obstacle.

Abby Clark 29:06

Yeah, okay.

Dan Egan 29:06

And why is it hard? And you mentioned earlier that it's a lower body thing, so I'm fascinated with that. Yeah, so first describe what the obstacle is.

Abby Clark 29:15

Yeah, so the warped wall, you see it at the end of the qualifying course. It's basically a curved wall. Um, it's 14 and a half feet tall. You have about 10 feet of um of run-up space, and it kind of angles up like a ramp and then actually curls back a smidge. Um, but it's it's lower body, it's just lower body power. It's

Beating The Warped Wall

Abby Clark 29:40

because it it used to be 14 feet, they moved it up to 14 and a half feet. It's pretty daunting. I mean, you stand there, you're only you know 10, maybe 15 feet away from the top of it when you're standing. So you don't have a lot of run-up space. And the taller competitors, of course, have it a little easier, but so as a shorter competitor, I'm 5'3, um, it just requires so much leg power and being able to produce that power in such a in really only three steps. I take I take three steps on the ground and then three steps on the wall. So in six steps, I've I've got to be at 14 and a half feet. It's it's wild.

Dan Egan 30:20

And and more than double your size.

Abby Clark 30:22

Yes. Yeah, yeah. So it it's a lot. And you know, being in sports like gymnastics and track, like those are such powerful sports. When I ran into some issues with it, I mean, even season 10, which was the first season I hit the buzzer, you get three attempts on the warped wall. So if you miss it um two times, you get your third attempt. If you make it and you hit the buzzer, great. Um, but if you fail all three of your attempts, that's equivalent of failing or falling in the water. So even that first season, I made the the buzzer that first time, it took me all three attempts. Um, and I barely had it. I it was not like a comfortable, easy, easy grab at the top. And coming from such powerful sports, I just didn't understand why I had such a hard time with it. Um, but as the years went on, like every year, you're if it doesn't work, you're trying something different. But the like the really hard thing is you we film this show one time a year. So you have one chance at it, and it's at the end of the course. So you're training so hard for all the obstacles. But, you know, in my mind, the hardest one for me was a warped wall. It's at the end. And I had a couple of seasons where I fell on the fifth obstacle. So those seasons, I was like, I didn't even get to try the warped wall to see if what I was doing was working. Um, I didn't even get to, you know, see if I was getting stronger on the wall because I fell before it and you don't get to just go and try it after. So there was a couple seasons that it's it's like, am I am I getting better at it or am I not? And we have warped walls at our local ninja gyms that we have one at our gym that we own. And but they're all a little different. You don't have the exact like curvature of the wall, you don't have the run-up, the um, the surface is different. So like all those things come into play. And you know, just like any sport, if the if you're playing on grass versus turf or if you're um, you know, skiing on ice or powder, like it's it's all so different and it's hard. And I was putting so much work into it. And then um, I think it was two seasons in a row, I had finally gotten to the wall, and then I still failed it. And I all three attempts and coming down the wall after my third attempt was is like the absolute worst feeling ever. I just um I would have rather fallen on the first obstacle at that point than then put so much work into trying to make myself better at something and still seeing it not work, and knowing that you have to wait a full year to even have the chance to try it again. Um, so it was just it was really frustrating. It was, you know, as like an athlete and quote unquote a performer, it's like embarrassing sometimes. And and I tried to, you know, change that mindset of like you're competing and we're filming, and then when the show airs over the summer, like you have to relive that with the millions of people watching it on NBC. Like when I'm competing, I'm not thinking about, you know, oh my gosh, millions of people are gonna see this. I'm frustrated in the moment. And then it's like, now I have to relive it and watch it and, you know, get frustrated all over again and like with now a million people know about it. Um, so there's there's also that side of it. And uh it just took so much like patience, but also just such hard work. And we added like our speed and agility training, and we added more weightlifting just to overall get stronger. And now the past couple seasons, I've like seen the results. Um, I think I've gotten stronger overall. I've been more consistent getting to the warped wall. And then to make it, it's just it, it, it paid off, but man, it was a struggle. Um, and it was a very it was a struggle that was on national television every single year. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't a struggle in like these local competitions. It was played to millions of people every single year. And you know, I you we I have so much support. Like everyone watching from home in New Hampshire to, I mean, even all around the country. I don't even know all these people. And like you know they're so supportive, but it you still feel like it's a letdown. Like it, you know, you're so close to the buzzer, and it's like, why can't I run up 14 and a half feet? Like I should be able to do that.

Dan Egan 34:44

Was there something about leverage and foot placement that that helped with the strength and the agility?

Abby Clark 34:51

Yes.

Dan Egan 34:52

And talk just talk me through that on the wall where the foot is and the arc of that.

Abby Clark 34:57

Yeah.

Dan Egan 34:58

Because to me, that seemed like part of the place where you needed to get up.

Abby Clark 35:03

Yes, yeah. So foot foot placement, um, like how upright you are, a lot of it's it's hard because you're starting on on flat ground and you're building up your your speed to run up this wall, but in in a split second, you have to change your your all your momentum that's going forward to now going up. Um, so getting your chest, I one of my issues was my chest wouldn't come up enough, which wouldn't allow me to drive my knees up high enough to get those powerful steps. And then the other part of it is that first step on the wall, if it's too low, you're already setting yourself up a foot lower than it should be. So making sure that first step on the curve is high enough that, not too high where you're losing your power, but high enough that it's working with you and not against you. Um, but one of the big things for me was really getting my chest up, chest up and letting my knees drive all the way up because if you're leaning forward, you're fighting against the wall basically instead of working with it. And it's still, you know, I still every time like we're training for this show, we train, we um we filmed the show uh end of September this year. So all through the summer we're training and and I still train the wall like crazy. I'm much more consistent at it, but I think for me it's one of those techniques that I'm always going to have to just kind of remind myself of. And some things come really natural to me. That one just doesn't for some reason. But but I figured it out, and um, it's yeah, the shorter you are, the more technique and the more power you have to have.

Dan Egan 36:42

But and then there's the moment. There's the moment where you get the lip. Your hands are up there.

Abby Clark 36:48

Sometimes one hand, sometimes one. It doesn't matter. I'll grab with one.

Dan Egan 36:52

And is that is that like panic or is that like thank god? Like what is that?

Abby Clark 36:57

Yeah, it's it's instant relief. Um yeah, I don't I normally grab with one hand. Um that's even if I have more than enough height, I just naturally grab with one hand. It's just kind of the way my arms are, you know, running up the wall. I grab with one, and that's all I need. Like I I know I can hang on with one hand. It's a pretty nice lip. So so I'm like, even if it's not all the even if my fingers aren't all the way around it, it's it's enough. Um and then as soon as I'm on it, my mind is just it's just pure like celebration. You climbing up like you just want to climb up so fast because you just want to hit the buzzer. I mean, your time doesn't stop till you hit the buzzer, but um, at that point, that's like the least of my worries. I just want to climb up and and celebrate because it it really is just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

Dan Egan 37:46

Abby Clark, America's Ninja Warrior, one of uh proud uh daughter of New Hampshire, and uh and serving us all well on the national stage, performing so amazingly and and just struggling through and consistent. Um, you know, I just wanted to touch on it's interesting the show because you don't have to hit a buzzer to succeed. Right. That always was a little confusing to me. So just walk me through how you progress through the rounds without hitting the buzzer and yeah, that piece of it.

Abby Clark 38:22

Yeah, so so each round you either um hitting a buzzer allows you to move on, or they have a certain number of spots. So for qualifiers, it's

Rules And Head To Head Racing

Abby Clark 38:34

typically, I think, you know, it ranges, they change it each year. Um, but in general, it's about 20 spots or so that whether you hit a buzzer or not, you move on. Um, because there's some there's some episodes that and qualifiers that only 10 people hit buzzers, or there's only like one female that'll hit a buzzer. So they they leave a certain number of spots open whether you hit a buzzer or not. And those spots are determined by whoever got the furthest the fastest. And you're if you fall on the fifth obstacle, your time and your placement is based on how fast you finished four obstacles. Um it's up until your last completed obstacle. So that's kind of how they rank us. And then same goes for semifinals. Um, you hit a buzzer or you're in this top certain number of spots. And then previously in the national finals, when they used to do stage one, two, three, and four, kind of like the iconic stages that a lot of people know, those were you had to hit a buzzer to move on. So that's kind of where they don't have the extra spots. It's just if 20 people hit a buzzer, 20 people move on. If 10 people hit a buzzer, 10 move on. So that's kind of where it got, it got like real serious. Like if you don't complete this, you're done. Um, I had never ended up hitting a buzzer on stage one, but there were there were times where I got to like the second to last obstacle, and I was one of the top two female finishers. So I was still able to be successful. I didn't move on, but um, you just kind of measure your success based on like where you're at sometimes. It's not always the buzzer doesn't always determine your success or not, I guess. And now there's um now we do head-to-head racing. So after semifinals, the finals um is head-to-head racing. So the you're still going for a buzzer, but you're also going for the win. So it it keeps changing. So we we have to tweak our trading a little bit too. But um now it's if you win, you move on. Um, and even if even if you and you're the person you're racing, if neither of you hit a buzzer, it's still whoever did the best moves on. So um the buzzer is the ultimate. Like I that's what I want. Um, but it is nice to move on even if you don't hit a buzzer.

Dan Egan 41:00

And head to head, I've noticed that.

Abby Clark 41:02

Yes.

Dan Egan 41:02

What's that like for you as an athlete? Do you thrive with it? Uh how do you deal with the mental side?

Abby Clark 41:07

It's it's interesting. You know, I'm I'm used to racing um in track. Um, I mean, track was totally head to head. You are within inches. I mean, you're like hitting elbows when we're hurling. You're you're bumping into people next to you. But so I'm used to racing. Um, but I find that I prefer to not race in ninja. Um I it's not, I would rather be out on the course on my own, just me, just the obstacles, but but that's just not always how it's gonna go. And and so mentally I do have to, you know, almost convince myself that I love racing. And a lot of times, even um when I'm talking about, I I honestly don't, I rarely even say that I don't love it, um, just because I need to convince myself that I do love it and because I don't have a choice. It's just the way it is, and I can't go into it thinking, oh, I don't want to race, I don't like racing, I just want to be me in the course because I'm already putting myself at a disadvantage against someone, you know, I don't know if the person next to me likes racing or not, and it doesn't matter. So um I have to put myself in the best position anyway to be successful. And part of that comes from, you know, convincing myself whether I want to do it or not, it's just the way it is. And um, I've gotten better at it. I think originally in racing, racing in ninja, I I felt more like a little more frazzled just because there's so much more energy. You know someone's right next to you. And, you know, regardless, you're gonna run your own race. I can't control what that person's doing. But it took me a little while to remember to kind of stay in my own lane and like mentally stay in my own lane, and and whatever I'm gonna do is what I'm gonna do. And, you know, if it ends up being the fastest, that's great. But I have to make sure I'm doing everything I can, and that's that's all it is. It's just that's I have no other choice.

Dan Egan 43:06

No, it's fascinating. And you know the results of the new season. You just filmed it.

Abby Clark 43:10

Yes.

Dan Egan 43:11

Uh you don't tell anybody, I'm assuming.

Abby Clark 43:13

Right, right.

Dan Egan 43:13

Uh it never gets out. How how tell me about that piece of it? How do you do you have to sign something?

Abby Clark 43:19

Oh, yeah.

Dan Egan 43:20

What happens there? How does that all come back?

Abby Clark 43:22

Yeah. So with the show, we film um we were out in Vegas for about two weeks at the end of September into October. And, you know, we sign so much paperwork. We're signing, um, we're signing for the for our own personal logos, we're signing like health forms, we're fine, signing the all the NDAs. Um,

NDAs And Unexpected Fan Moments

Abby Clark 43:40

so that's all kind of bundled up into, I don't know, like 30 pieces of paper basically. Um, and it basically just says that you can't share the results. It it takes away from the excitement of the show when it airs. And of course, you have family members, like I have family members that were out there watching, I have family members. That are on a virtual screen watching Night Of. They're also signing NDAs. So there are some people, you know, the people involved and the people really close or the people that were there, they know. So there's people walking around today that know the final result of this coming season of Ninja Warrior. But it just, we keep it a secret, you know, for the show, of course, with our NDA, we're supposed to keep it a secret. But it's just so much more exciting when we can watch it over the summer, when it's a it's just a surprise to everyone. And again, like sometimes it's a fun surprise, sometimes it's not if it didn't go well. But regardless, we we have to stick to that NDA and it it all airs over the summer. But the it's hard when you first come back from filming. So this past the past couple weeks, like it's still very, you know, people are asking how it went, and they're not always trying to get information, but they're just saying, like, how'd the trip go? Like, and it was good. That's normally what I say. I mean, regardless, it is good. We're lucky to even have the opportunity to be out there and competing. And, you know, when we have good weather, that's even better because we film outside. And um, and then it kind of fades for the winter months, like people kind of forget about it. Honestly, I forget about it. And then once they start promoing with the commercials coming out, like end of May, early June, people will start getting excited about it again. And and that's when it starts airing. And then once it airs, once your episode airs, um, whether you get shown like your full run or they sometimes they'll do like a fast forward, you can talk about it. Once it's done, you can talk all about it. But up until then, you you just kind of have to stay quiet. And yeah, honestly, I forget about it sometimes.

Dan Egan 45:44

That's amazing that you can uh sit on it.

Abby Clark 45:47

Um, we've we've had practice though. So nine seasons.

Dan Egan 45:51

Nine seasons. That's amazing. So, you know, being on the on the national stage, NBC, uh blowing up on social media, uh, there's a lot that comes with that. What's been your experience with fans? Uh give me one that you just totally didn't expect. Somebody recognized you, or you were in some place, somebody saw your name. Yeah. Give me one of those.

Abby Clark 46:13

Yeah, so there was one. I mean, sometimes when I wear, um, I have so many clothes that have American Ninja Warrior on it. Like, I I just wear it all the time. And and honestly, sometimes I don't wear it because, like, I'm sure you know, like sometimes you just don't even want to, you know, talk about it, think about it. But I wear it so often that people will ask, and and then, and then it's like, all right, here we go. Like, oh, I've competed on it. And then, and then may they may have known my name in that sense. But I was actually working in Manhattan for a few years at a private elementary school for kids with special needs. And I, you know, I walked to work, walked, I walked a different way each day, but sometimes I walked through Times Square right past, you know, filming in the morning and all that. And I was, it was a dress-down day, I think I had, or it was the end of school year. I don't know, I had very regular clothes on, like maybe even leggings and a sweatshirt, not a ninja sweatshirt. And someone standing outside of Good Morning America or whatever one films right in Times Square. He was standing outside and he he reckoned, he said my name. Um, apparently, like he watches it, his family watches it. I don't know. Um, he but he recognized me. That was one of the the most random ones, and he was very respectful. He wasn't like overly, you know, like kind of weird or anything, but um, he just totally knew who I was, and I was so it was like seven o'clock in the morning. I was so confused, but it's really cool. I mean, in general, every everyone's so respectful. Um, you know, we have fans that like like that one that'll just recognize me randomly. That one doesn't happen as often, but even once people hear about it, they're so respectful. We were just in Germany um at the end of August at a competition, and there were about 2,000 or so people right with it. So the course was, it was actually at the Munich airport. It was the coolest thing ever. Um, the course was right in between the two terminals, and then there was our warm-up area and then a chain link fence, like around it. So you had to buy tickets to get inside the chain link fence. And there was almost 2,000 people in that area. So they had free reign of like where our warm-up was, where we were walking to the course. And I didn't have, you know, there were the kids, they wanted autographs. They were so respectful. They had like my like trading card and stuff. It was really cool. Um, but they were just so respectful. They stayed out of the way, they didn't go into the warm-up area. So that's that's more of what we see, um, which is nice. It's not like an overwhelming um amount of attention. It's it is attention, but it's not, you know, over the top.

Dan Egan 49:04

So New Hampshire's Ninja Warrior. You are Abby Clark. That's amazing. What a great experience. You know, I just want you to talk a little bit to uh uh female athletes out there uh thinking about going to eighth grade track or not going to eighth grade track, thinking about joining a team basketball, maybe not joining basketball. Why do sports? Why does it matter now? And how has it helped you?

Abby Clark 49:30

Yeah, being being an athlete and just you know, female athletes in general, you have to give it a try. I mean, that that goes for any anyone, anywhere. Um, if you you're thinking about trying something new or anything, you have to give it a try. And um, because you just never know. That was that's my

Advice For Girls And Ninja Future

Abby Clark 49:50

current career is solely based on just giving it a try. Um, I never would have known that I'm I'm I am where I am. And you know, you might not like it, but and that's okay. Um, but you have to at least give yourself the chance to make that decision. Um, another big thing is just you know, focusing on you and not letting, you know, outside voices um affect you and what you do mentally, physically, emotionally. Um, all of that is is on you. Um you're in charge of that. And you know, there's people that when I was missing the warped wall over and over again, you hear people like, oh, she's so inconsistent, she's you know, she's um not one of the top athletes. She like just there are negative things out there, and luckily there was more positive than negative, but um that was on me to block out and to to redirect myself and make sure I'm still doing what I need to do. So um I want more girls to kind of go in that direction of who cares what they're talking about, who cares what they think, who cares what they say. Um, if you like it and you want to do it, then do it. Um, it it really doesn't matter at the end of the day, especially in it's so hard when you're in middle school and high school. Like it just seems like that's the end all be all of your whole life. And it's not at all. Um, and I get that that's really hard to see and like understand that in the moment, but just do what you want to do and and stick with it and and put everything you can into it. It's if you're not gonna put everything you can into it, then don't do it. Um, it's not worth it unless it's, you know, obviously your homework, you should put everything you can into it. But in terms of you know, athletics, just if you're not gonna do it, then if you're not gonna do it 100%, don't waste your time. If you like it, and who cares what people say? Uh they you if you can ignore that, you're gonna go much further than the people that are talking about you.

Dan Egan 51:53

So and now, of course, you own your own ninja gym. Tell me about the name of the gym, where is it located, and what's it like to be a business owner?

Abby Clark 52:01

Yeah, I own, I co-own a ninja gym in Flemington, New Jersey. It's called Next Level Ninja, and we do, you know, classes, competitive team. We start at age five, so it's very similar to how like a gymnastics gym would run in terms of your recreational classes. We have a competitive team. Um, and that's just it's been it's I mean, I'm there every day. I'm training there, I'm working there. It's it's a lot, but I am so lucky to be able to have my everyday life something that I really love. And it's it's been really fun. We've been there for about four years now. Um, it'll be four years in November. So seeing the the company grow, seeing the number of kids increase and the number of kids enjoying what they're doing, that's you know, that's why we do what we do. We want whether they're just there for recreational classes or maybe they work up to our competitive team, either one. We just want them being active, um, learning, you know, learning how to be active in fun ways and enjoying what they're doing. And it's just it's grown so much. We have over 60 kids in our competitive team, ages six through, gosh, six through twenty. Uh, so it's it's it's a lot. There's a lot of you know the backside to owning a business. And it can't, that it's not all sunshines and rainbows, that's for sure. But when you love it, it's just worth it.

Dan Egan 53:28

That's great. And so ninjas growing. You're in Germany doing different competitions. Uh, where's the future of Ninja? What's happening? What can we expect?

Abby Clark 53:37

Yeah, Ninja is definitely growing thanks to you know, American Ninja Warrior and NBC. I mean, it it's definitely grown because of that. We're starting to see more Ninja Warrior gyms pop up. Um, we've we've been able to travel, you know, we were in Germany, we've been in Switzerland, we've been to Italy, we've we've been able to travel. Ninja's definitely growing in those countries as well. Um, so we're starting to see it more worldwide and and at a high level worldwide. So we would like to see it um, you know, I would love to see it in schools one day as a school sport somehow. I think I do think there's some distance to go in terms of standardizing it in a way that you can put it into schools and more competition. Um, when you look at the sports that are out there right now, there is standards to certain things. And I think I would like to see Ninja kind of go in that sense um in that direction a little bit more, but I think it I think it totally can go in that direction. We're seeing a lot more kids involved. Um, again, like comp being competitive. The one exciting thing is the modern pentathlon in the um 2028 Olympics is switched out one of their um uh one of their events for obstacle racing. So that's a huge one. I mean, I'm not a modern pentathl pentahlon athlete, so I don't do the other events, but um, so otherwise I would love to try for the Olympics, but I don't think I can pick up fencing that quick. Um, but you know, seeing that it's being recognized enough that it's going to be in the Olympics in some way, shape, or form, I think is a huge step. We're starting to see a lot more um like oh the they're kind of um labeling it as OCR, like obstacle course racing, which I don't disagree with. I think that's more of like the sport version of it. So I'm really curious to see where it's gonna go as we get into the Olympics. And after that, you know, it could open up something for it to be its own sport. At 32, I think it would be a push to try, you know, if they add it in the next, I don't know, 10, 15 years, but I'll a hundred percent try it, that's for sure. But, you know, it's I think it has a long way to grow, but it's it's made so much progress in the last, even the last five years.

Dan Egan 56:05

As you look back, you know, your career, you're right in the middle of your career, uh far from over. You've achieved a lot. Who who do you want to thank?

Abby Clark 56:13

Oof, oh my gosh. So many people. I mean, I it goes all the way back to, you know, growing up. I want to thank like my parents. I they put me in so many sports. I was able to, you know, I was skiing, I was doing soccer, I was doing gymnastics. They I tried sailing. Like there's so many different sports that they put me in. And ultimately, you know, originally it was skiing was my sport. I loved it. And I mean, to this day I still love it. I I ski all the time, but um I eventually had to choose between skiing and gymnastics. And I chose gymnastics, and you know, here we are however many years later. But um, if it weren't for them, you know, putting me in

Gratitude And How To Follow

Abby Clark 56:55

all those, driving me to all those practices, that it absolutely molded the me to who I am today. And um, all the coaches that I've had through all my other sports, the the things that they've taught me that I, you know, I'm not doing that sport anymore, but I'm still using those lessons and those techniques that I've learned from them, like my college coaches, my um gymnastics coaches from middle school, high school, everything. So yeah, it's there's so many people that I use what I've learned to be who I am today. Um, you know, my husband Joe, he's he's the one who's making all kind of leading all of my ninja workouts. He's like the mastermind in the gym in terms of setting up the obstacles. And I definitely wouldn't be a ninja if it weren't for him as well. And just and all the people that are supporting me, like you. I mean, it's to hear that I have so much support and it just makes it so much easier. It makes it easier to to want to train, it makes it easier to go through the highest of highs, it makes it easier to get through like the lowest of lows, but it's just so many people that they're close, far, all over the world that um I, you know, whether I know them or not, I wouldn't be able to do it without them.

Dan Egan 58:11

And how do people follow you?

Abby Clark 58:12

People can, you know, follow me. I'm mainly uh active on my Instagram, which is Abby A B B Y underscore Clark, C L A R K 33. So I'm mainly on that. I post like a lot of my training videos on there and my other whereabouts, like we just got married last month. So you kind of get a mix of my whole life, and that's what I try and do on my Instagram is um my life of ninja, as well as me trying to incorporate regular life things in my in my life. So um, mainly on Instagram. I am on TikTok as well with the same username. Uh, those are just videos, but uh mainly Instagram.

Dan Egan 58:53

New Hampshire's Ninja Warrior, Abby Clark, uh, one of the stars, one of the most successful women ever on America's Ninja Warrior. And uh, how'd it go this year?

Abby Clark 59:04

You'll have to find out. It is weird to hear that like one of the most successful, you know, ninjas, it's it's I feel like I'm still so new to the sport, and it's kind of easy to forget how far I've come in the sport, and it's weird to say it, but it it is true that like I am one of the best, and when I hear it, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's that's crazy to think about. I'm just doing what I love, and I'm just I just want to be active, I want to be healthy, I want to be in shape, and and I don't want to waste you know all these years, and I just want to just want to move.

Dan Egan 59:39

Getting after it right here on the 603 podcast. Thank you so much, Abby, for joining us.

Abby Clark 59:44

Thank you so much. It's just so fun. I you know, it's been, I feel like I mean, we've known you for years, and growing up, like I said, it's skiing, and uh it's it's really cool. There's so many, you know, full circle moments that I'm just so excited to be here.