Iditarod champion wins Copper Basin 300

LAKE LOUISE — Lance Mackey has made mushing history with his recent domination of the long distance race. But as it turns out, Mackey does fairly well in the mid-distance events too.

Late Monday afternoon, the Fairbanks-area musher was the first to cross the finish line at the Wolverine Lodge on Lake Louise and captured the 2008 Copper Basin 300.

Mackey finished at 4:41 p.m. Monday, with a team of 10 dogs. As of press time, Mackey was lone musher into the final checkpoint. As of 5 p.m. Monday, eight mushers were en route to Wolverine from the Sourdough checkpoint.

Mackey was the first to leave Sourdough, making his way toward Wolverine Lodge at 9:15 a.m. Canadian musher Hans Gatt left at 9:39 a.m.

According to race officials the mercury stood at about 10 below zero when Mackey finished. Temperatures exceeded 40 below during the start of the race on Saturday.

Sixteen mushers remained on the trail early Monday evening, according to race officials. After starting the race at Wolverine Lodge, the start and finish point of the race, mushers followed a trail that passed through checkpoints at Tolsona Lake Resort, Glennallen, Gakona Lodge, Paxson Lodge, Meier’s Lake Roadhouse and Sourdough.

Mackey has been, arguably, the most celebrated Alaska musher in recent years. Last year, Mackey became the first musher in history to win back-to-back titles in both the Iditarod Trail and Yukon Quest International sled dog races.

Mackey, the four-time defending Yukon Quest champion, recently withdrew from the race that sends mushers from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, but is listed among the field of competitors for the 2009 Iditarod.

—Staff Report