My 14er record attempt

[MtHurd]

Without shin splints, homie breaks Cave Dogs record by a decent margin. Just sayin...

41 14ers at 41 years old (in a week). That's a record that will stand a while.

[JA_son27]

Thanks for letting us follow along, it was so much fun watching you crush it! My wife and I wish you the best, and congrats on a tremendous accomplishment!

[oldschoolczar]

Homie is truly an inspiration!

This must be bittersweet for him, but it's an amazing accomplishment nonetheless.. not to mention how he fired up this community. Homie for president!

What I'm going to do the next few days without Homie's SPOT updates!?

[Broderick22]

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Without shin splints, homie breaks Cave Dogs record by a decent margin. Just sayin...

41 14ers at 41 years old (in a week). That's a record that will stand a while.

I completely agree. Homie Prater did something that hasn't been done before. I was pointing out that if he hadn't developed shin splints (which I know to be very painful from personal experience), he would have broken that record. As with everyone else, I am in awe of his accomplishment. Hopefully its not another 12 years before some attempts it again!

[altidude]

Homie, you are a Mountain Gangster! So inspiring!

Thank you so much for bringing us all along for the ride...for bringing it so freakin' hard, Man!

[Theodore]

Finally! Now I can get some work done...


Congrats on the hurculean effort and thank you for bringing this community together during an otherwise rough week. An inspiration to many, you better be getting some $ from Hoka for increased shoe sales! :D

Live to fight another day, another attempt next year?

[illusion7il]

I have been glued to this since day 1. VERY IMPRESSIVE

[jdorje]

I was pointing out that if he hadn't developed shin splints (which I know to be very painful from personal experience), he would have broken that record. As with everyone else, I am in awe of his accomplishment. Hopefully its not another 12 years before some attempts it again!

As of Columbia last night, he was on pace to break Cave Dog's mark. Yet I'm probably not alone in saying that watching this unfold has increased (if that word even does it justice) my appreciation for Cave Dog's accomplishment. Just like Homie, he overcame significant external obstacles (starting with bad weather, completely out of their control) to finish. But it was the internal obstacles (shin splints and leg swelling, equally out of his control) that did Homie in at the end.

Like others have said above, I'd like to one day see Homie (or someone else) do that Elks traverse (safely), and set a new mark for fastest completion of the Elks.

This whole week has been a testament to the power of both the human spirit and the human body.

[RockyMtnHigh]

Homie, thank you so much for the inspiration and congrats on an amazing accomplishment, even if you didn't make the end goal, it's nothing short of amazing what you have done in the last week. I hope you recover quickly and get some much needed and deserved rest and relaxation this weekend. Thank you for allowing us mere mortals to follow along on your heroic journey, it was a blast!

[Chicago Transplant]

Congrats Homie on a valiant effort!!

I have been following your blog posts (thanks Bill for the updates!) and trying a couple of times a day to see where you are through this thread, but this thread is just far too active for me to follow (if I want to stay employed).

It was fun tracking your effort, and this is a HUGE accomplishment anyway you slice it. Seeing your peak logs on LOJ throughout the summer I knew you were scouting the routes and it was fun to track the official attempt this week. Congrats, and enjoy the well earned rest for this holiday weekend! Well done!

[Gareth]

John,
I just wanted to let you know that your truly incredible effort over the last week, and the efforts of all those supporting you, have moved and inspired me, a slow-poke flatlander climber who has sadly seen his mountain fitness hit 9 year lows over the fast few years. Despite my sad current situation, just today I was beginning to toy with the idea of driving all the way from SW Kansas up to Longs in order to cheer you on to victory. Even hiking up the Longs trail, huffing and puffing, legs burning from muscle fatigue, at 1/50th of the pace that you would have managed. (I was to the point of thinking: "Well, if this comes to an end by no later than early Monday, that would give me enough time to drive back home for work on Tuesday......and the girlfriend does have family in Brighton, and Lakewood, so she'd have something to do if she didn't want to drive to the Park....)

It may not be the 14er speed record, but you won a personal victory in my book!

P.S. I always knew that this "John Prater" guy must have been somewhat of a CO mountain climbing animal since 2005 when I saw your name on the summit register for "Catamount" in the LCW

Edit: Now that I'm home and can get at the photo, I forgot that you had climbed it at least twice, and that we only missed your second climb by 2 days!

100_0325EDs.jpg

[DArcyS]

I tip my hat to both Homie and Cavedog. While everybody was rooting for John to break the record, Cavedog's efforts should be acknowledged. A failed effort accentuates the Herculean effort of Cavedog.

I hope John and other endurance runners -- who can climb -- consider doing this "course" again in the future. It's a rather exclusive club Cavedog has created.

And if you were inspired by John's efforts, I encourage you to follow the Hardrock 100 and other endurance races. These athletes are incredible.

Congratulations on the inspirational effort, John.