photo by: Richard Gwin

Brittany Harrell-Miller

What began on a whim for a Lawrence math teacher may end with her team winning a competitive reality show and up to $500,000.

After a trainer at her gym suggested it, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School algebra teacher Brittany Harrell-Miller filled out an application to participate in the NBC show “Strong.” Harrell-Miller has made it through nine episodes so far, and Thursday’s finale will reveal whether her team is the ultimate winner.

Harrell-Miller, who grew up on a farm south of Lawrence, said she is just happy to have made it to the final round.

“This is like the championship game,” Harrell-Miller said. “I think this is what you prepare for the entire time. I’m lucky to be playing in the championship game no matter what happens or what the outcome is.”

photo by: Richard Gwin

Liberty Memorial Central Middle School math teacher Brittany Harrell-Miller talks with her class on Friday, April 8, 2016. Harrell-Miller recently competed on the NBC show Strong.

When the show was first aired in April, Harrell-Miller was one of 10 women taking part. Each woman is partnered with a professional trainer, and the two-person teams compete in strength and conditioning challenges each episode. Following the challenges, the two lowest-scoring teams compete in the elimination round by racing to climb a tower that includes various strength tests.

Harrell-Miller’s team has already had to take part in five elimination rounds thus far. She said those extra rounds gave her team less time to recover physically between episodes, but it also meant they got really good at quickly climbing the elimination tower.

“We knew that even if we lost challenges that the tower was something we could ultimately win in the end,” Harrell-Miller said.

The winning team is awarded up to $500,000. Though filming for the show was completed in the fall, Harrell-Miller hasn’t been able to reveal the outcome of each episode before it airs. Past episodes can be viewed online, and the finale will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Thursday on NBC.

A community watch party will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at Wayne & Larry’s Sports Bar & Grill, 933 Iowa St. Harrell-Miller will be in San Diego to watch the finale with her teammate, but said she will try to Skype in so that she can video-chat with those gathered.