• Children's Center

    In the Loop: Mayo now has two Ninjas in the house


Candace Granberg, M.D., has a lot of titles, including surgeon, wife, mom, volunteer and now, ninja warrior. The pediatric urologist is the second Mayo staff member chosen to participate on NBC's American Ninja Warrior. 


In May, Candace Granberg, M.D., got the chance of a lifetime for a fitness and endurance fan: a shot at running NBC's American Ninja Warrior course and participating in one of the reality show's qualifying events. It was an opportunity Dr. Granberg hadn't actually applied for. Instead, she was invited to compete based on a video she'd submitted to another NBC program, the Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge. Her team didn't make the cut, but someone in TV land liked what they saw in Dr. Granberg.

"The casting team for American Ninja Warrior called me out of the blue and said, 'The producers really liked your application and video, and they want you on ANW Season 9 in Denver,'" Dr. Granberg tells us. "There were over 77,000 applications for this season, so I was pretty surprised they found me."

If you ask us, it's no surprise Dr. Granberg's story stood out. In addition to her work as a pediatric urologist at Mayo Clinic's Rochester campus, she's also the mother of two young children and has made five trips to Haiti as a volunteer with LEAP Global Missions. On top of that, she's got mad physical skills. (Check out the gun show in this photo.)

Though she admits to initially experiencing a bit of uncertainty, Dr. Granberg tells us that feeling quickly gave way to excitement — and focus. "I love a challenge, so I decided I better start training," she says. And for help with that, she knew just who to call: Mayo's original American Ninja Warrior, Andrew Yori. "I sent Roo a message and told him I needed some ninja coaching," she tells us of the show veteran and now gym buddy. Read the rest of the story.
______________________________________________
This story originally appeared on the In the Loop blog.

Related Articles