When it comes to races on Front Street, none is as famous as the finish of the 6th Iditarod. Rick Swenson and Dick Mackey had been within a few hundred yards of each other for many of the miles to Nome. Murphy’s Law awaited the two mushers as they charged toward the Burled Arch. Mackey’s team had a slight lead but decided to take a detour down the sidewalk. Advantage Swenson. Dogs being the curious critters they are, Swenson’s team decided to explore the underside of a parked school bus. Advantage Mackey. In the chute, Mackey’s team takes on a camera and tripod. Advantage Swenson. Mackey ran to untangle his leaders and pulled them under the arch. Right beside him, Swenson drove his team, sled and all under the arch. There had never been a tight situation like this in the 5-year history of the race. What determines the winner? Is it the nose of the leader or is it the musher and sled? Iditarod’s top Official determined it was the nose of the lead dog and Mackey was the winner by one second. He had completed the race in 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds. A detailed account of this event as told by Dick Mackey is available in Lew Freedman’s Iditarod Classics.

There were a couple of intense one-second races on Front Street this week. Shortly after Tuesday became Wednesday, Ken Anderson and Jessie Royer came off the beach and approached the arch neck and neck. Good old Murphy must have been asleep as there were no tangles with busses or spectators. Anderson edged Royer out of 9th position by only one second. Much later that same day, Matt Hayashida and Bruce Linton climbed the trail from the beach up to Front Street one behind the other. They too charged to the finish neck and neck. Matt claimed 22nd place over Bruce by again, just one second.

Born to Run,

Sanka