I have been following the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races for several years. There is one musher in particular that I follow closely because I believe he exhibits a true love of the dogs. Lance Mackey won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod race last year. He won the Yukon again this year and is in first place so far in the Iditarod.

He is a life long Alaskan, born June 2, 1970 in Anchorage, Alaska. He’s married to his high school sweetheart, Tonya, who is also a musher. They have four children, Amanda, Brittney, Alanah & Cane. His main hobby is sport fishing and running with his dogs.

Lance was diagnosed with throat cancer after the 2001 race and underwent extensive surgery as well as radiation treatment. He started the 2002 Iditarod but had to scratch in Ophir and took 2003 off to regroup. He is now considered cancer free and has a solid, fairly young team of dogs with another year of experience on them. ‘Mackey’s Comeback Kennel’ is a small, low budget kennel.

This year Lance gratefully accepted the Yukon Quest Banquet awards and then went up to his 2 new sled dogs, “Rev” and Hansom”. “These are the real athletes and superstars,” he said. Lance also won the “Veterinarian’s Choice Award” and here is the excerpt regarding his presentation and winning from his website:

More importantly, Lance was awarded the “Veterinarian’s Choice Award”. Lance was visibly choked up. To Lance, this is winning, really winning. An award chosen by the Yukon Quest’s team of 14 veterinarians for his superb dog care on the trail, the man they call “invincible”. Lance finished with 11 dogs, more happy healthy dogs than anyone else. Eleven dogs who came into checkpoints with wagging tails and eager to continue on to the next check point. “This means more to me than winning this damn race,” Mackey said, his voice breaking. “Thank-you very much.”

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