Iditarod Nation Honors Lance Mackey (Photo: Terrie Hanke)

Lance Mackey, often referred to as the peoples champion, will be honored by the Iditarod Nation during the 11 mile Ceremonial run from 4th Avenue to Campbell Airstrip.  A member of his family, wearing bib #1, will occupy the sled of Jr. Iditarod Champion, Emily Robinson gliding through the streets of Anchorage lined with  thousands of not only Iditarod fans but Lance Mackey fans.

Iditarod and Jr. Iditarod both named Lance Mackey as their 2023 Honorary Musher.  He is the winner of eight 1,000 mile races – 4 Yukon Quests and 4 Iditarods.  Mackey participated in the Jr. Iditarod from 1985-1988.  If there were a musher Mt. Rushmore carved into the towering rock walls that guide the Yukon River, surely Lance Mackey would be included.  Lance was as genuine and down to earth as the trail is long.  The legendary and iconic Mackey passed away in early September at the age of 52.

Lance was born into a mushing family.  Father Dick, and brothers Rick and Jason are all Iditarod veterans. Dick and Rick are champions.  Each earned Iditarod gold in his 6th race wearing bib  #13.  Lance would be running his 6th Iditarod in 2007.  Back in those days, the first musher to sign up had the first choice of bib numbers.  In June, he camped at Iditarod Headquarters for an entire week prior to the first day of musher signup so he could be at the front of the line.  The family tradition held up as Lance won his first Iditarod on his 6th attempt wearing bib #13.

As a graduate of the school of hard knocks, Mackey chose the name “Comeback” for his kennel.  It describes what Lance has done time and time again throughout his life.  He is an inspiration to his fans, fellow mushers and family.  Katie Henry, a 2023 Jr. Iditarod contestant, mentions Lance as her inspiration in her race biography. 

Prior to the pandemic, there were two 1,000 mile sled dog races in North America, Iditarod and the Yukon Quest.  Over time there have been a number of contestants who’ve accomplished the distance double, doing both 1,000 mile races in the same year,  but none more famously than Lance.  Mackey won both the Quest and the Iditarod in the same year, not once but twice – 2007 and 2008!  Impossible for anyone except Lance Mackey.

Looking at the record books, Lance did what most dog drivers considered impossible.  After completing Iditarod in 2002 (36th place) and 2004 (24th place), he conquered the Yukon Quest as a rookie in 2005.  He won the next three making it four Quest crowns in a row.  In 2007 he won his first Iditarod.  He won three more to claim four consecutive Iditarod crowns.  He’s the only person to have that distinction. 

Along with the mountain top experiences of the birth of his  children, winning eight long distance championships, family time and time with his dogs while training and racing, there were plenty of challenging times.  School just wasn’t his thing.  He experienced drug abuse, addiction and treatment.  The lump he discovered on his neck during the 2001 race was stage four throat cancer.  The devastating surgery was followed by a long complicated recovery that included learning to live with the long term effects of radiation and without salivary glands.  When running the 2008 All-Alaska Sweepstakes, a snowmachiner hit Mackey’s sled and serious injured his famed dog Zorro.  Mackey lost his partner, Jenne Smith, in a 4-wheeler accident in the fall of 2020.  And then in 2021 a new cancer invaded his throat.  Treatment went well until it didn’t and then he lost his battle against cancer.

Spirit of Alaska – The Spirit of the Dogs and Musher Become One in Iditarod (Photo: Terrie Hanke)

His dogs brought him through the darkest of times. He lived for his dogs.  When things got tough Mackey was just a little tougher.  As Raynaud’s Disease affected his hands, he adapted by wearing super-duper beaver mittens and using beaucoup handwarmers.  He figured out ways to work smarter so he could keep on working with dogs.  Because not working with dogs was unthinkable.

Mushers talk about the connection that Mackey had with his dogs.  Jeff King told Anchorage Daily News reporters, “I have memories of his dogs standing up and looking at him like the Messiah had just arrived.”  Jessie Holmes told the ADN team how he was inspired by Mackey saying, “Definitely, one of the most inspiring things is the way he connected with his dogs and what they would do for him.”  

Love and understanding flowed both ways between Lance and his dogs.  Mackey’s dogs were welcome in the house and would often choose to sleep on his bed.  If at bed time Zorro, Larry, Lippy, Handsome, Maple or Rev occupied the bed then Lance would grab a blanket and sleep on the floor.  He said, “They deserve the comfort more than I do.”

Lance has written an autobiography published in 2010, The Lance Mackey Story, that follows his chaotic life from boyhood to Iditarod Champion sharing his struggles and the role of his sled dogs in saving his life.  Mackey is also  the subject of a movie released in 2015, The Great Alone.  The movie is a documentary that shares the story of Mackey’s inspiring comeback. 

In a very storied Iditarod career, Lance has received twenty-five awards including two Most Inspirational Awards, two Sportsmanship Awards and a Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award.  All are great honors and well deserved.  In 2008, Mackey as the first musher to arrive in McGrath, received the PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award.  The award symbolizes the spirit of the dogs and the musher becoming one in Iditarod.  There are no greater words than these to describe Lance Mackey! 

Lance, may you rest in peace as your legacy lives on through your family, your fellow mushers, those you have mentored, your fans and the  bloodlines of your canine athletes.