American Ninja Warrior 2015 Results: Recap from June 29 Episode

The fifth of American Ninja Warrior's six qualifier episodes for its seventh season aired Monday from Pittsburgh, featuring numerous inspirational storylines and tenacious competitors.

Pittsburgh's obstacle course at Carrie Furnace in Braddock featured six incredible challenges. Chief among the obstacles were a wavy, curvaceous balance beam called "Snake Crossing," hanging wind chimes to climb between, pull-ups on a series of "Devil Steps" and a wall to scale parkour-style at the end.

Check out the top 30 contestants who advanced to the city finals:

Top Ninja Finishers	Time
City Qualifiers Who Didn't Finish Course (Reason)	Time
Elet Hall	1:22.71
Joe Moravsky	1:34.17
Dustin Sanderson	1:46.54
Justin Kydd	2:10.42
Mike Meyers	2:34.53
Luciano Acuna Jr.	2:40.04
Danny Johnson	2:41.78
Pavel Fesyuk	3:01.38
Adam Grossman	3:03.37
Brian Wilczewski	3:20.54
P.J. Granger	3:31.90
Geoff Britten	3:41.81
Adam Mihm	3:44.64
Alex Dell'Aquila	3:45.16
Ron Schmidt	4:10.45
Joe Archambault	4:15.64
Mike Bernarado	4:25.15
Jason Khazi	4:33.23
Kelly Mohler	4:41.68
Todd Mitchell	4:51.54
Sean Darling-Hammond	5:32.64
Jamie Rahn	6:06.95
Miles Avery (Warped Wall)	3:01.63
Chad Sanderson (Devil Steps)	1:14.00
David Bozak (Devil Steps)	1:40.04
Tim Mitroka (Devil Steps)	2:14.36
Aaron Himelright (Devil Steps)	2:15.58
Ryan Ripley (Devil Steps)	2:15.73
Michelle Warnky (Devil Steps)	2:42.73
Scott Maxson (Devil Steps)	2:44.24

Toward the beginning of the NBC telecast, viewers were captivated by a phenomenal run from 56-year-old Miles Avery.

Only the final obstacle known as the warped wall got the best of him. Three attempts to run up and grapple onto the top of the daunting halfpipe came up empty, but one could hardly blame Avery for being fatigued after making it through the rest of the course.

NBC4's Matt Barnes took notice of Avery's valiant effort and provided context for his athletic background:

Amber Holbrook's daughter was diagnosed with severe autism at 18 months old, leading her to take up training for American Ninja Warrior despite no organized athletic background. One wouldn't have been able to tell when Holbrook hit the course.

The 30-year-old from Findlay, Ohio, got a shout-out from show host Matt Iseman following a brilliant recovery on the balance beam before the wingspan on her 5'3" frame couldn't bridge the gap on the chimes obstacle:

Walk-on participant P.J. Granger's backstory featured issues with alcohol abuse, which he overcame and then dedicated his energy to training for the show. Similar to Holbrook, he didn't participate in organized sports as a child.

Granger became the first finisher, gracefully gliding through the course with his slender frame and scaling the warped wall on his second try despite never doing so before in training.

A sneak preview from the show's official YouTube channel provided footage of Granger's entire run before the wall:

Prior to his warped wall conquest, Granger implored fans to help him through—a strategy that appeared to work wonders:

The next man to complete the course was Jamie Rahn, who rocked a unique follicle mop of green. Rahn had a bet that if he got through, the announcers would have to transition to green hair. Both Iseman and co-host Akbar Gbajabiamila complied with wigs once Rahn made it through at a rather deliberate pace of a little over six minutes.

After falling short last season, firefighter Mike Bernardo progressed to the city finals with a magnificent time of four minutes and 25 seconds.

Ryan Ripley has battled cystic fibrosis throughout his life. Doctors didn't expect him to initially live past the age of five, and he spoke about his mindset prior to making his bid to move past the qualifying stage:

Unfortunately, Ripley's run came to an end when he couldn't reach the sixth step on the stair pull-ups as his grip slipped. It was nevertheless a phenomenal achievement just to get to that point, and it was just enough to push him into the city finals.

Toward the end of the episode, NBC revealed several of the swiftest athletes.

Stuntman Luciano Acuna Jr. was the first to be featured at length. Dubbed the "Brooklyn Beast," Acuna was adept at taking on every impediment in his way en route to a time of approximately two minutes, 40 seconds.

Impressive as Acuna was, Elet "The Natural" Hall certainly lived up to his moniker by exerting seemingly little energy and making the daunting test look easy en route to a ridiculous 1:22.71 time.

Past American Ninja Warrior athlete Joe Moravsky wasn't too far behind at 1:34.17, coming in as the last person to be featured on the Pittsburgh edition. Moravsky has made it to the third stage in each of the prior two years and overcame a brief stumble on Snake Crossing in an otherwise peerless finish.

The qualifier finale will take place in San Pedro, California, and after that will be the city finals before the season's conclusion in Las Vegas, where a $1 million prize will be on the line.

Pittsburgh brought out exemplary competition. Hall stood out with how far the margin was between him and the rest of the pack until Morovsky's closing run. Both Hall and Moravsky have to be considered national favorites to bear in mind when the scene shifts to the Silver City.