'American Ninja Warrior' who grew up in Jacksonville makes finals a fifth-straight time

We all have to deal with life's obstacles every day. R.J. Roman just deals with his on national television.

Roman, who grew up on the Northside of Jacksonville and attended Wolfson High School, is a finalist on NBC's "American Ninja Warrior," a competition show where contestants have to make their way through an obstacle course as quickly as possible.

His next scheduled appearance on the show is at 8 p.m. Monday. If he does well, he'll advance to the title round on Aug. 29.

Making the "American Ninja Warrior" finals is nothing new for Roman. He's reached them in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 but came up short each time. He'll have to complete four more rounds to win it all.

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Running through the course, Roman and other competitors face diabolical obstacles designed to test their strength, balance, endurance and nerve. Competitors climb and swing and leap from one obstacle to the next, and have to finish all of them to collect the $1 million grand prize — something that's only been done twice in 14 seasons.

It's possible to win the whole competition without completing all of the obstacles, but that doesn't interest Roman.

"My eyes are set on the million-dollar prize, not on the $100,000 prize for whoever goes farthest," he said in a phone interview last week from Orlando, where he is co-owner of the Obstacle Ninja Academy.

Roman said that when he's on the course, facing the Wingnut Alley, the Dragonback or some other challenging obstacle, he doesn't worry about other competitors. "In my mind, I'm competing against the course," he said.

Roman grew up doing tricks on a scooter in parks across Jacksonville. He said he still does that sometimes, but most of his training is focused on running obstacles in his Orlando gym, where he also trains others interested in joining the show.

"I do train tons of other people from the show," he said. "People come from all over Florida and all over the country to train with me."

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The obstacles change from round to round, so competitors have to be ready for anything and dominating at one discipline isn't necessarily going to earn them a victory. Roman said there are people training at his gym who are better than he is at some things and he tries to learn from them while helping them on their weak points.

"There are definitely people at my gym who are better than me at some techniques," he said. "It ends up working really well because we push each other."

He trains on the obstacle course three or four times a week, usually after doing a more conventional workout at another Orlando gym operated by a friend from the show.

Roman is originally from New York and moved to Jacksonville at age 5 before heading to Orlando in 2019. He's still the bass player in a band called Emuness, named for the Jacksonville street where some of the band members lived.

He said he has learned a lot from competing on the show. "The biggest part of it is the mentality," he said. "You kind of always have to commit and trust yourself on obstacles."

He's also learned that sometimes your best efforts just aren't good enough. "I think the most important lesson is falling short of your goals and not letting that disappointment consume you forever."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville native returns to 'American Ninja Warriors' finals