Lawrence math teacher heads to finals of national reality show

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.

Despite being slowed down by an injury, the Lawrence math teacher who took part in a competitive reality show is headed to the final round with a chance to win up to $500,000.

Liberty Memorial Central Middle School algebra teacher Brittany Harrell-Miller competed in the NBC reality show “Strong.” The school held a community watch party Thursday for the second-to-last episode, which revealed that Harrell-Miller would advance to the finals.

“It was a really great experience. There were a lot of people there supporting and rooting me on even with all the terrible weather outside,” Harrell-Miller said of the environment at the watch party. “…There were a few people just from the community that I didn’t know that showed up, so it was really nice to see.”

photo by: Richard Gwin

Those who attended a watch party for the ninth episode of the NBC reality show Strong pose for a photo on Thursday.

As part of the show, Harrell-Miller competed against nine other women in strength and conditioning challenges. Each woman is teamed with a professional athletic trainer, and at the end of each week one team is eliminated. Last week, Harrell-Miller’s team made it to the final three.

Harrell-Miller began Thursday’s episode dealing with a foot injury from the week before, which she said ended up being a bone bruise. The episode’s challenge was to climb a 36-foot cylinder with metal rods for hand and foot holds. As they made their way up, competitors had to collect weights hanging from the cylinder and attach them to their belts. The team that got the most weight to the top in 15 minutes won.

Harrell-Miller and her teammate and physical trainer, Todd Durkin, placed third in the challenge, hampered by the fact that she could not carry much weight because of her foot.

“I was a little disappointed, but I knew that I had that foot injury, and I really didn’t know what was wrong with it at that point,” Harrell-Miller said.

As a result, Harrell-Miller and Durkin had to compete in the elimination round against the second-place team to see who would advance. The elimination challenge was to ascend a multilevel tower made of various strength tests, in which the team had to use devices such as a leg-press or hoist to advance upward. Harrell-Miller and Durkin completed the tower with the fastest time, winning the elimination round.

“I think that was one of the first times I was truly like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so excited,'” Harrell-Miller said. “You never expect to get that far.”

The show was filmed in the fall, but Harrell-Miller is not allowed to talk about the outcome of each episode until after it airs. As the final episode approaches, Harrell-Miller said she’s looking forward to finally having the outcome revealed.

“It’s been a buildup for so long, but I’m excited that it’s finally here, even if it’s ending,” she said.

The winning team will be awarded up to $500,000 next week. Harrell-Miller will be traveling to San Diego to watch the finale with Durkin, as well as participate in a workout hosted by the producers of the show.