Theone thing I’m rubbish at in life is breathing but I won’t let it hold meback
Fitness fanatic returns for second shot at glory after pain of missing out at the final hurdle
LAST year, he ended up in hospital during the show but this year Scot Alex “Ali” Hay hopes to go all the way and win Ninja Warrior UK. The Kelso fitness fanatic is one of eight finalists who will appear in tonight’s final on STV. He was the fastest finisher in the semi-finals and came second in the elimination round. Not bad for an asthmatic. The 29-year-old company director said: “I have chronic asthma but I’m not going to let it beat me. I’m hoping being on Ninja Warrior will be a platform for others to overcome their asthma.
“After Ninja Warrior, I had loads of messages from random people saying, ‘I was going to try this race but I didn’t think I could. Now I’ve seen you, I’m going to put my name down’.
“The one thing I’m rubbish at in life is breathing but I’m not going to let that stop me achieving my dreams.”
Last year, the father of two ended up in A&E doing the course as he pushed himself to reach the semi-final stage.
He said: “Halfway through, my asthma was playing up. My chest was tight, I couldn’t see, I was sipping the air and my muscles were seizing because I couldn’t get enough oxygen.
”Although I made it to the end of the course, I was in A&E until 10.30pm that night because the adrenaline from the run and the salbutamol in my inhaler had pushed my heart rate up and I had to wait for it to stabilise.
“That made me realise that my asthma wasn’t as good as I thought it was and that I needed to change my training to get it under control.”
Doctors on the show, presented by Ben Shephard, Chris Kamara and Rochelle Humes, gave Ali the all-clear last year but more heartache was to follow when he was disqualified in the final after he put his hand on an area he wasn’t allowed to on the spider wall – the first obstacle finalists tackled.
He said: “I didn’t even get wet. I wasn’t really upset. I was happy to be on the show.”
His natural positivity shines through, along with the determination which has seen him return this year to try again.
Edinburgh-born Ali, who calls himself the Bearded Ninja, changed his training to compete in this year’s show.
Each day, he has to take an asthma preventer and montelukast tablet – which manage asthma symptoms – and never goes anywhere without his reliever inhaler.
His oldest boy Aldous, five, has asthma but his youngest, Atticus, two, hasn’t shown signs of it yet.
He said: “I want to be a role model for them. They think everyone’s dad is a Ninja Warrior, so I hope I make them proud.”
To make sure he wasn’t affected by his asthma this year, he did a huge amount of cardiovascular work – training in summer, winter and spring – which has helped him massively.
He said: “I always train but changed it to get my lung capacity sorted. Let’s mend these things and see if they want me back.”
While Ali has asthma, he has always loved sport.
He said: “If I was rubbish at breathing at school but can beat the other guys at sport, what would I be like if I had good lungs?
“My mum Sandra did keep-fit classes and I tagged along.
“When I was 16, I played basketball for Scotland under-18s but it was unfortunately cut short due to a hernia.”
Without doing sport, his asthma got really bad and he was dropped from his basketball and rugby teams.
Realising how much sport meant to him, he began doing weights and went to college to take a personal training course.
Ali, who turns 30 on Wednesday, runs an events company in Kelso, as well as a Ninja gym in Edinburgh, and founded the Kelso skatepark.
Ninja, though, has become his life and this year he became the UK champ for the UNAA (Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association) and next month will go to America to compete in the world championships.
Tonight, he hopes to become the first athlete to complete a Ninja Warrior UK course, including the punishing 22m rope climb tagged Mount Midoriyama.
So far, he’s been head of the pack. In the semis he clocked the quickest course time in the four years the show has been on here.
At 3.03 minutes, he was 35 seconds ahead of the next competitor.
This year, the final has been split into two – the elimination round and tonight’s grand final. In the elimination round Ali came second but only because he didn’t
go flat out. He said: “I tried to go as slow as I could. I was mincing about for ages.
“What I didn’t realise in the semi-finals was, if you got the fastest time you had to go last in the elimination round.
“There was a real pressure of being there all day and knowing you are going last, I hated that.”
Now he’s ready to be crowned Ninja Warrior UK champ in front of his boys, his parents and his nan. The final has already been filmed but Ali won’t give away how he’s done.
He said: “I know I can complete the course 110 per cent. It’s just a case of will I be able to do it on the day.
“It’s great to be back and hopefully I’ll get some redemption.”
But he admitted he’ll be nervous if there is another spider climb on the course.
He said: “If I slip on that again I’d be heartbroken.
“I think I’d have a complex for the rest of my life.”
But if he doesn’t go all the way, will he return?
“Definitely,” he said. “Ninja has become a lifestyle for me now.”
Ninja Warrior UK is on tonight, STV, at 6.30pm