Day 7: Mackey comfortably ahead of the field

March 14, 2009

Lance Mackey is leading the 2009 Iditarod by a wide margin. (Scott Jensen/KTUU-TV)

by Kevin Wells
Saturday, March 14, 2009

UNALAKLEET, Alaska -- Even as a two-time defending Iditarod champion, Lance Mackey has never been in such a comfortable position.

Behind what might be his beast dog team yet, Mackey has built a huge lead over the rest of the field.

"It's hard to get two minutes on these guys, let alone two hours," he said of his team, which remained intact all the way to Eagle Island before he finally dropped a dog. "Anything beyond that is amazing."

Mackey has been wowing the competition this year.

"Mackey is Superman," said Aaron Burmeister, third into Eagle Island several hours behind the leader. "That's all I can say. He did a couple of really bold, big moves to put himself in that position, and if anybody can do it and get away with it, he can."

The largest 800-mile lead of Mackey's Iditarod career was manufactured in a long run from Takotna to the ghost town of Iditarod, and he's doing it with a different cast.

"I had to finally tell myself that I ain't gonna have a future here if I don't get rid of some of the old ones and bring in some of the new guys," he said. "They're holding up way past my expectation and some of them are exceeding my expectation. That's real nice."

Nice, unless you're left in his tracks. Mackey's pursuers are looking back on that signature run as the key to the race.

"I don't believe I could have done what he just did the last 36 hours, or my dogs couldn't have," four-time champion Jeff King said. "At least if they did, they would not be ready to keep going."

Chasing the rabbit is an around-the-clock job. The monotony of the Yukon River acts as a great equalizer -- it's difficult to gain ground on the flat terrain.

Dog power, and now time, are on Mackey's side as the push to Nome continues.

Mackey left Eagle Island bound for Kaltag at 3:48 p.m. Saturday after a rest of more than seven hours. He reached the checkpoint a little after midnight Sunday morning, averaging a brisk 8.2 mph over 8 1/2 hours. He was on his way to Unalakleet at 3:58 a.m., before any other musher had reached Kaltag.

Hugh Neff was the next to leave Eagle Island, 21 minutes shy of four hours after Mackey. Mitch Seavey and King soon followed. Sebastian Schnuelle and Burmeister left in the 8 o'clock hour after completing their mandatory eight-hour layovers.

Also on Saturday, rookie Rob Loveman withdrew from the race at Ophir, becoming the fourth musher to quit out of the original field of 67.

Contact Kevin Wells at kwells@ktuu.com

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