Dick Mackey is an American
dog musher
Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commo ...
who won the 1,049-mile
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 ...
across the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
in 1978 by the closest margin in the history of the event. His son,
Rick Mackey
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
, became the first legacy winner when he won the race in 1983. Dick's other son,
Lance Mackey
Lance Mackey (June 2, 1970 – September 7, 2022) was an American dog musher and dog sled racer from Fairbanks, Alaska. Mackey was a four-time winner of both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Early life
Lance was born o ...
, won four consecutive Iditarods in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, thus becoming the second legacy winner.
Overview
In 1978, Mackey pulled ahead of
Rick Swenson
Rick Swenson, sometimes known as the "King of the Iditarod", (born 1950 in Willmar, Minnesota), is an American dog musher who was first to win the 1,049-mile (1688.2 km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska five times, a re ...
during the last leg of the race from
Point Safety to
Nome. With less than 10 miles (16 km) to go, Mackey had a 2-mile (3-km) lead, but by the time he reached the chute to the finish line along Front Street in Nome, they were neck-and-neck. While Swenson crossed the burled arch at the finish line first, Mackey had eight dogs in harness, and Swenson had only six. Since the nose of Mackey's lead dog crossed the finish line first, Marshall Myron Gavin decided in favor of Mackey. Swenson initially believed he had won, and when he learned otherwise he told Gavin, "if you made a decision, stick by it". (
Sherwonit, 1991, pg. 134)
Mackey's winning time was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes, and 24 seconds, and his
lead dogs were named Skipper and Shrew. Mackey competed in every Iditarod from the first in 1973 until his victory.
He later established a
truck stop
A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motori ...
in
Coldfoot, Alaska
Coldfoot is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 34 at the 2020 census. It is said that the name was derived from travelers getting "cold feet" about making the 240-some- ...
.
References
* Sherwonit, Bill (1991). ''Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome''. Alaska Northwest Books.
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Dog mushers from Alaska
Iditarod champions
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