In the shadow of Union Station, some of the fiercest athletes in the Midwest and beyond will compete in American Ninja Warrior -- the Kansas City edition.
"You can see the aches and pains and what they have to go through and the struggles - especially the hill at the end," said local fan Pamela Morgan. "You have to be in shape and have to know what you are doing."
Morgan watched the qualifying round with Liberty Memorial as the backdrop two years ago when the show last taped in Kansas City. This year she'll do the same exact thing.
"We went on the hill," she said. "We heard they were coming and we thought we'd watch them from the hill all evening to see what was happening and see how great it is."
And the show doesn't just put contestants on the map to be warriors - it also gives seven million viewers across the nation a glimpse of Kansas City.
"The awareness from one of the biggest television shows on NBC is very important to Kansas City," explained Union Station President and CEO, George Guastello. "It also shows the city as a metropolitan community, and people from all over the Midwest can say - 'I want to go to that place.' I've never been there before, it looks great. But it also shows other places that do television shows, and films - that's what's really important. It's a great economic development tool for other people to do national television, movies or television commercials."
In all, six cities will host qualifying rounds before finalists go on to Las Vegas. The folks in KC hope a local makes it to Sin City.
"It's our hometown," said Morgan. "We have the pride and 'Show-Me State'. Show me you can do it. That's Missouri for you.
American Ninja Warrior already stopped in Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Daytona, and it will head to Cleveland and Denver after KC.
The finals take place in Las Vegas June 18-24.
