By Natalie Murray ’18

Geoff Britten seems like a fairly typical Olney resident—he’s a husband, a father, and a professional cameraman. But Britten is not an ordinary soccer dad, he’s a man who recently made history.

Last summer, Britten became the first person ever to complete the final stage of Mount Midoriyama—the last in a set of obstacle courses in the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior.” The show features people from around the country who attempt to complete challenging obstacle courses. The top 30 in each of the city finals courses go to Las Vegas to attempt Mount Midoriyama, a four-part course that, for the first six years of the show, seemed impossible to master.

This past season, however, two athletes completed stage three—Britten and Isaac Caldiero. Both moved on to Stage Four, where they had to climb a 75-foot rope in under 30 seconds. Although both completed the climb, Caldiero’s time was 3.6 seconds faster than Britten’s, so he took home the million-dollar prize. Despite being seconds from becoming a millionaire, Britten is happy with his accomplishments.

“The fact that I beat stage four was just incredible,” said Britten. “I’ve never been sad about not having a faster time or not winning a million dollars, because my goal was always to beat it, and I did.”

Not only was Britten the first ever to complete stage four, he is also the only person in American Ninja Warrior history to have a perfect season. Unlike Caldiero, who fell in the second to last obstacle in the Kansas City finals, Britten completed every single course he went up against.

His accomplishments earn him almost daily recognition around town, as well as at work. “I’m a professional cameraman, and people used to ask me, every day, ‘Hey, could you put me on the big screen?’ Now people tap me on the shoulder and ask, ‘Hey, weren’t you on American Ninja Warrior?’” said Britten.

In order to balance his roles as a father, husband, and cameraman with his Ninja Warrior training, Britten trains at nearby gyms like Earth Treks in Rockville, Alternate Routes in White Marsh, and also has a small training area in his own house. “What helps the most in my training is having my family come with me,” said Britten. “We’ve made it into something fun where we can all go and do it.”

His wife, Jessica, who also competed in on the show, and his six-year-old daughter, Allison, are not only his family, his training partners, and part of his cheering section, but also a major source of motivation.

“Watching my wife, my daughter, my mom, and my dad there cheering for me, that to me is so much more special than getting to compete at all,” said Britten.

With everything Britten has achieved, it would seem that there isn’t much that can keep him down. However, a 103-degree fever left him unable to compete on the American Ninja Warrior spin-off show, “USA vs. The World,” in which teams of American, European, and Japanese Ninja Warriors compete against each other. Britten has been aching for a second chance ever since.

“I felt awful, I felt like a quitter, it just felt brutal. I’ll always regret that I wasn’t able to push on further,” said Britten. “Going into next season, that’s really my only goal, to get a chance to redeem myself.”

As Britten achieved his first goal, beating stage four, it will be interesting to see if he can accomplish his next one when Season Eight premieres next summer. Make sure to tune in to watch the local ninja warrior.