Mackey is something special

In many ways, Lance Mackey is the epitome of a tough Alaskan.

Mackey, a four-time winner of both the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest, is the rock star of his sport, a man who reached legendary status before his 45^th birthday. Last year, Outside Magazine called him the world’s toughest athlete. He’s been nominated for an ESPY award. He’s world-renowned, and deservedly so.

Mackey’s trials and triumphs have been well documented throughout an epic career that’s taken him throughout Alaska, with stops on the Kenai Peninsula and the Interior. But, less well known are Mackey’s Valley roots. And that made Mackey’s latest benchmark in his historic career even more fitting. Sunday, Mackey, son of a longtime Mat-Su area schoolteacher, was bestowed one of his greatest honors.

Mackey was inducted into the Mushers Hall of Fame during a potluck and ceremony at the Wasilla-Knik Historical Society and Museum.

“With Lance, he’s such an Alaskan tough spirit,” Robbin Robert, acting president of the historical society, told the Frontiersman recently. “He’s had adversities and overcame them …. and he’s popular, too.”

Alaskans typically take pride in resiliency, toughness. And Mackey might as well be the one waving that flag.

Who could be tougher, more resilient than Lance Mackey?

This is a man who battled the worst of conditions and the best competitors his sport has to offer en route to four titles in the two toughest sled dog races in the world. But this is also a man who had to overcome drug addiction, and more recently, throat cancer, even to have the chance to brace his boots on his sled runners and follow his team of dogs down the treacherous trail.

In an interview with the Frontiersman lauding his newest accolade, Mackey said he wasn’t trying to do anything special.

“My whole reason for being here is I wanted to live and I wanted to raise dogs. I wasn’t trying to do anything special, I just wanted to live. I wasn’t ready to go yet.”

We’re not ready for Mackey to go either.

The 2015 Iditarod was brutal, especially for Mackey. Already battling health problems of his own, poor circulation due to Raynaud’s syndrome, Mackey was also battling problems with his team. Two dogs died during the race. As fans wondering if the Iditarod great would be able to finish the 2015 race, Mackey joined forces with his brother, Jason. The two Mackey brothers battled the trail together, and were mere seconds apart as their teams made their way down Front Street in Nome to the finish.

Throughout the race, many wondered whether that would be the last of Mackey. Reports speculated Mackey would be done after the 2015 race.

But Mackey quashed any doubt during a recent interview with the Frontiersman, declaring his intent to race in 2016. And not just to enter, but to compete for a fifth truck — part of the prize for being first across the finish line in Nome.

“I got caught in kind of a down time last year and I questioned myself. But I’ve had some time to stop and think about it and now my thought is, like it’s always been. ‘This is what I am and what I do’,” Mackey said.

This is what you do, Lance, and you’re one of the best we’ll ever see.

Congrats.