LATICRETE recently sponsored Ivan Teper in the annual Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hill Climb in Denver, Colo. Teper, who has leukemia and is anemic, completed the 28-mile bicycle race in four hours and 29 minutes, which begins at 7,500 feet above sea level and ends at 14,130 feet on top of Mt. Evans, in four hours and 29 minutes.

Teper says he rode more than 1,000 in preparation for the course that begins at an elevation of 7,500 feet, and ends 14,130 feet on top of Mt. Evans, where the highest paved road in North America terminates.

He adds that he more than accomplished his goal of “just crossing the finish line.” Although he did not did not win the race up, he may have won the race down, descending the 28 miles in just 57 minutes through thunder and hail storms that moved in just after he completed his ascension.

Teper adds, “For the last hour, I was so tired I couldn’t reach down and grab my water bottle for a drink. When I crossed the finished line, I put my bike down and cried like a baby.”

The annual event, named after five-time winner Bob Cook, who passed away in 1981 after a courageous bout with cancer at the age of 23, began in 1962 with only a handful of riders. This year, 1,075 racers and riders participated in 10 different age categories. Tom Danielson, a world-class racer with Team Discovery Channel won the race for a second time, crossing the finish line at 1:43:04, one-minute and forty-four seconds off his own course record of 1:41:20 (2004).