The Richmond Generating Station on Delaware Avenue near Lewis Street is a symbol of the Riverwards’ industrial and economic growth and evolution. Since the plant stopped operating regularly in 2004, the building has become a site of appreciation and intrigue.

  The American Ninja Warrior qualifying rounds held on the evening of May 26 at this site crackled with excitement.

  “How appropriate. This place is known for one thing and that’s producing power,” Akbar Gbajabiamila, co-host of the show, told Spirit News. “That’s the same type of thing the ninjas have to do here. They have to produce power and they better be electric.”

  About 130 contestants — including Ohio State football player Armani Reeves and former Olympian Paul Hamm — competed on Thursday night on a course with six obstacles. Four new obstacles were debuted and renovations to iconic obstacles, like the “Floating Steps”, were made, creating a course previous competitors have never seen before.

  Those who made it through the qualifying rounds on Thursday competed again on Friday in the city finals round. On the second night, the “ninjas” faced a longer course of nine obstacles and their final chance to make it to Las Vegas, where the champion will be crowned.

  In all eight seasons of the show, last Thursday night was the first time an episode was taped in Philadelphia.

  “It used to be at a point where Donovan McNabb ruled the town and then for a little bit Andy Reid and his era. … Chip Kelly went by really fast, just about as fast as his offense, and now we’re here and we’re taking over,” Gbajabiamila, former NFL player, said.

  “They call it the City of Brotherly Love for a reason,” Kent Weed, executive produce of American Ninja Warrior, said. “We were welcomed with open arms when we came here and it was just a pleasure.”

  During American Ninja Warrior’s last season, the show achieved a viewership of 7.2 million people. Matt Iseman, co-host of the show, feels like America keeps watching because the competitors are “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

  That same idea is what inspired Arianne Missiner of Coatesville, Pennsylvania to begin training for American Ninja Warrior a year ago — while she still was fighting liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer in the body’s connective tissues.

  As a physical therapist and an active participant in activities like ballroom dancing, kettlebell and weight training, she’s always been dedicated to fitness.

  “I’m obsessed with new skills and disciplines and this was my new challenge,” Missiner added. “I knew I was going to beat cancer and I knew I could continue to train for this.”

  After ending treatment this past December, Missiner was cleared of cancer in January and competed on Thursday, fulfilling her goals.

  Weed, who has worked on the show since the beginning, also attributed American Ninja Warrior’s success to being the “epitome of what family entertainment is today.”

  “It touches on all the values and the moral values of family,” he added. “It gets families together. It reunites kids with parents. It gets parents off the couch and exercising with kids.”

  The suspense and drama of the show is captivating for any viewer too. There are no second chances for any ninja running the course.

  “You have to want to succeed as much as you want to breathe in order to be successful here because it just takes one little misstep and you’re done,” Gbajabiamila said. “In American Ninja Warrior, you have to wait 365 days before you get another opportunity.”

  Tune into NBC at 8PM on June 27 to see the episode of ninjas from all over competing in Philadelphia’s qualifying rounds.