Lance Mackey’s Unbreakable Sled Dog Spirit

On March thirteenth, two thousand and seven, Lance Mackie does something no one had ever done in the sled dogging world. Facing brutal winds and bone chilling temperatures, Lance knew exactly what he needed to do to fight, as he had beaten cancer and now he was going to win the Idita Rod for this second year in a row, becoming the first back to back champion in the history of the sport. Coming from a great sled dogging family, Lance put himself above the rest, winning the Idea to Rod for the second straight year and would go on to win two more back to back, putting on one of the most dominant streaks in sled dogging history. We're going to dive into Lance Mackie in his incredible journey today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Rees, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history now. Lance was born in nineteen seventy in Alaska, a place where sluedd doog racing is more than just a sport. It's a way of life. And he didn't just stumble into mushing, he was born into it. His father, Dick Mackey, was a legend in the sport and was actually a co founding member to help start the Idea Rod Trail sled race, which is known as the ultimate test of endurance for any musher in their dogs, and he was also involved in one of the most dramatic finishes in nineteen seventy eight, beating Rick Swinson by just one second, the closest to the race has ever come on a finish, and Lance's older brother Rick followed in his father's footsteps, winning the Idea to Rod in nineteen eighty three, both wearing the BIB number thirteen. So it was almost an inevitability that Lance would become a musher as well, but Lance didn't take it to it immediately. He had a lot of hardships and as a teenager he got into a lot of trouble as he was rebel and lived a wild lifestyle, getting into drug and alcohol. But eventually he did find his way into racing in the nineteen nineties, but he was struggling financially as he was unable to get top tier sponsorships and he had to scrape together his racing team. It didn't help that in two thousand and one he was diagnosed with throat cancer he had to go through grueling treatment to help fight it, which left to permanent damage. He lost over twenty five percent of his weight and some nerve damage as well, leaving him with little feelings in his hands and fingers, and doctors thought he may never race again. But Lance was a fighter and he fought his way back, and in two thousand and five he began to sled dog race again and he entered his first Yukon Quest, which is a grueling thousand mile race through the wilderness from Fairbanks, Alaska to to Whitehorse, Yukon. And not only did he finish, he won in his stunning upset, signaling he was back and ready to focus on racing full time. He would go on to win the next year, win the Yukon Quest the next year as well in two thousand and six, and in two thousand and seven it's something no one had ever done before. He would go on to win the Yukon Quest and the Idea a Rod that same year. No much I had ever pulled this off, as the races are just two weeks apart and both of them are over one thousand miles. The Yukon Quest is known as one of the toughest sled dog races in the world and doesn't get as much hype as the idd A Rod as doesn't have as compelling of a story, but temperatures regularly can get to below sixty degrees fahrenheit as it is raced in February instead of March, so it was a colder time and even more isolated than the idd A Rod. But he would go on to win the race on February twentieth, two thousand and seven, his third straight Yukon Quest title, winning it in a time of ten days, thirteen hours, and ten minutes. Yes, these races are days, not just minutes. It is a long, hard race, and he became the first person to win three consecutive Yukon races. But that meant he just had fourteen days to prepare for the idit AOD. Now, if you don't know much about the Idea Rod, obviously you haven't watched the movie Bolto. It's a great little movie that is roughly based on a story of getting supplies from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. It is known as the last great race on Earth for good reason because it's got a compelling story behind it, and it's the super Bowl of Sled Dog Racing. The race started on March third, two thousand and seven, with eighty four mushers, which included multiple other champions who had won the race before. Now Lance had its last name, which gave him some clout, as his father and brother had both won the race before, but it had been years since a Makki had won the race, and Lance was always viewed as just the wild child who probably wouldn't accomplish very much in sled dog racing. But Maki came out and even though he only had fourteen days prepare after the Yukon Quest, this meant his team was in more shape and ready for the treacherous terrain and almost made it seem easier. So they didn't start aggressive conservative because they really needed to set the pace rather than push for the lead right away, and by day six Lance would end up taking the lead with his lead dog, Larry, was proving unstoppable. By this point, many of the other teams were starting to feel the fatigue, but his dogs were battle tested and continued to push, and by day eight and nine he was battling with previous winner Jeff King. Now, if you don't know during this race, there's actually multiple stops along the way, and these stops are for the dogs and the writers, but really for the dogs. They need to be checked to make sure they're healthy by the vets, get some rest and it's a humane thing to do this for the dogs, and it gives an actual break in the competition. And you're only required to take an eight hour rest, and some people take longer, some people take less. It depends on how you are as a competitor and how you're feeling during the race. And Mackie really held to that eight hours, which really helped him break away from Jeff King, and by the time he reached the finish line in Noam, Alaska, with a time of nine days, five hours, eight minutes and forty one seconds, he became the first musher in history to win the Yukon Quest. And I did a rod in this same year, wearing the BIB thirteen, the same at his father and brother wore when they won that I did a Rod race, but they only won it once. He upped them, not only winning the two thousand mile races within a month of each other, but he went on to win four more in a row, winning four straight. I did Rods from two thousand and seven to twenty ten, becoming the first to do so, the first to win back to backs, and the first to win four in a row. This put a target on Land's back, and it also put him on a pedestal and people were looking up to him. What is he doing differently that made him so special? He had a unique love and a unique connection to these dogs. But he also had a passion he had overcain cancer, and so he knew he was on borrow time already and he was fighting for the time he had now. Unfortunately, he struggled with health on and off for the rest of his career, as he also had Reynaud syndrome, which produces the blood flow in the body and typically makes the ends of your hands and lips and ears look red and is triggered by the cold, which made it especially hard for him to do his races. And he also ended up struggling with addiction, testing positive for drugs in twenty twenty and checked himself into rehab and battled with cocaine and alcohol, and unfortunately the throat cancer came back with at age fifty two, he passed away, but it's still known as one of the top mushers of all time, tied with Jeff King, Robert Roser, Doug Swingley, Susan Butcher, who all have four wins in that Ideta Rod. Only two mushers have more in Rick Swinson who has five in Dallas Savoury who has six. Still Mushing to this day, despite him having a short career, a shortened career, he made the most of what he had. He was dealt a lot in life and dealt with it the best he could and used his love of dogs and mushing to make a name for himself in the sled dog world and continue the legacy of the Mackie name where he was born into. I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you want more sled dog content, check out Mushing Alaska, where your hosts Sean and Brandon give you mushing analysis and sled dog news from all the races going on so you can stay informed every other week on what is going on in the world of sled dogs. And if you want to connect more with me, you can follow me on my socials. Daily Sports History is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, threads, blue Sky, LinkedIn wherever you like to connect socially. We're there so you can check out videos and pictures of our episodes and come back next week for more daily sports history.