MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — Oddly three individuals have managed the nutty task of pushing a peanut up the steep slopes of Pikes Peak. Now 53-year-old Bob Salem isn’t planning on setting any records, but if he succeeds he will be the first person in the 21st century to complete the journey.

Salem is a collector and now he is bringing an odd task back to life, “I love collecting history of the local area and stuff like that so getting to be apart of it and actually being out there is pretty cool,” Salem said.

When Salem learned the Historic Museum in Manitou Springs was looking for a 21st century peanut pusher, he jumped at, or more like crawled, at the opportunity: “I am just trying to flick this thing up,” Salem said.

History was made in 1929 when Bill Williams was the first to achieve the bizarre feat and he did it to win a bet, “No I didn’t lose a bet I actually volunteered for this,” Salem said.

Salem wants to bring some excitement to Southern Colorado and keep Manitou Springs weird, “That’s the goal,” Salem said.

Perhaps the most notorious peanut pusher was rock music star Ulysses Baxter in 1963, who performed the push in a record breaking eight days.

Salem in fact got some words of wisdom from the peanut pusher to better prepare, “Ulysses helped with little clues on getting up the mountain,” Salem explains, “he actually went up the highway, the Pikes Peak highway, so I think his route was a couple of miles longer.”

Salem will begin on Saturday, July 7th, on the Barr trail. He expects to reach the 14,115 foot summit of Pikes Peak on July 17th, “We’re going to have a bunch of people here at the bottom and I guess there will be a drum circle,” Salem said. “It’s just another way to get everybody to look at this little city.”

46 years after the last pusher, Tom Miller in 1976 reportedly smashed Baxter’s record to the top in less than five days.

Salem says he’s is no rush and plans to take plenty of breaks, “You know as amazed as everyone seems to be when they hear I am going to do this, I mean myself, I am a little surprised.”

You can view the Travel Channel’s recap of previous peanut pushers at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center.