Mackey wins 3rd Sheep Mountain 150

SHEEP MOUNTAIN — Four-time defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey showed this past weekend he still has his winning form. The Fairbanks resident kicked off the 2010-2011 mushing season with a win at the Sheep Mountain 150 Sled Dog Race.

Mackey finished the race early Sunday afternoon in a time of 24 hours 47 minutes, claiming the $1,750 top prize. Big Lake musher Jake Berkowitz was second, finishing 25 minutes behind Mackey and winning $1,250. Also finish in the money was third-place finisher Jessica Hendricks ($750), who was the defending Sheep Mountain 150 champion. Mark Childers of Knik won the Eureka Lodge Veterinary Care Award and Bridgett Watkins of Nome earned the Sheep Mountain Lodge Sportsmanship Award.

The win for Mackey kicks off a season where he aims to claim his fifth consecutive Iditarod title, he said. His four straight Iditarod wins are a record, and he’s already confirmed he’ll run the world-famous race in 2011.

Mackey hails from Alaska mushing royalty. He’s the son of Dick Mackey, one of the Iditarod’s founders and winner of the race in 1978. His brother, Rick, won in 1983. Carving his own trail, Lance is also a four-time winner of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest.

Norma Delia is the matriarch of the family whose homestead hosts the Skwentna checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail. Over the years, she’s seen many mushers come through her checkpoint, including Mackey.

“He’s just got this grim determination,” Delia said of Mackey’s competitive edge. “He just fights through anything.”

Along with winning the race, Mackey had three other teams in the race, with two others finishing in the top 10.

“This is the preseason where we test out the new guys,” he said, adding it’s nice to see young mushers compete and learn. “It was a great weekend, a good way to start the season.”

After having to cancel two of the last three Sheep Mountain 150 races because of a lack of snow, this year’s event saw prime conditions for the 39 teams that registered, said Zack Steer, lodge owner and race director.

“The race went really well this year,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to have adequate snowfall. It was a combination of good trail and a really quality field of dog mushers — veteran mushers like Lance combined with a crew of rookie mushers. All the mushers commented it was a really fun run for them.”

Like in previous runs, Mackey “looked to be in typical Lance form,” Steer said. “He looks like he’s on track for another dominant performance this year, and this field was not a slouch field. There were some quality dog mushers.”

Although Mackey notched his third Sheep Mountain 150 win this past weekend, “I’m still focused on winning the Iditarod, and I want to win the Iditarod this year,” he said.

Although most any race Mackey runs he enters as a favorite, he predicted a fourth-place finish for the 150.

“I’m not unbeatable,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised. It’s where I feel the most comfortable — out on the trail with my team.”

A throat cancer survivor, Mackey knows about battling the odds and goes into the new season a little banged up. Despite some of the creeks and cricks that come with age, Mackey is still able to show the young mushers how to compete and win with class.

“I didn’t do some of the things I should have done this summer, like a knee replacement,” he said. “I’m just basically tired of being cut on. I’ll pretend to be someone tough again this year. The reality of it is I’m getting old and falling apart. I’m going to enjoy it while I can.”

A musher himself, Steer said the 150 route is basically his practice run, but during the race he usually has too many things to watch over to compete himself.

“I’m so darn busy organizing the race myself, I don’t get a chance to race it myself,” he said.

But if he did, Steer would have the ultimate home-course advantage. And how does his best practice run compare to Mackey’s winning effort?

Steer hesitates for a second, then says with a chuckle, “About a minute faster than Lance did.” Steer said.