Lance Mackey talks about his three-peat

March 19, 2009

Lance Mackey says the highlight of the Iditarod was the enthusiasm his team showed the entire race. (Scott Jensen/KTUU-TV)

by Kevin Wells
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

In an interview with Channel 2 News, 2009 Iditarod champion Lance Mackey talks about his team's outstanding performance on the trail.

Kevin Wells: The dogs coming into today look great. It was like they had just started the race. That had to be the sight to see.

Lance Mackey: That's the highlight of my race right there, not winning another new truck, not winning gold along the way, but my team made it to the finish line acting like they were leaving the starting line. That's exactly what every musher here wants to see happen. Not just myself, but that's my personal goal every year, is to try to get as many dogs here as possible happy and healthy. I have 15 of 16. My job is done. That's all I can say.

Kevin Wells: This was a race until about a 128 mile run you took from Takotna after your 24 hour layover all the way to the half way point of Iditarod. What happened there to make that run happen?

Lance Mackey: Well we came off of that 24 with 16 strong dogs that were just enthused about what they were doing, and we we're behind about an hour and a half from the front guy and the first 40 miles I caught all of them. Aaron Burmeister was parked when I caught up with him but he had only been there for a very short time, and when I stopped to ask how long he had been there, the dogs were actually barking and screaming and pulled the hook. I always go by what the dogs tell me they are capable of doing and at that point they told me they were ready to break, and you know there's a little chunk of gold right around the corner that was kind of appealing, and makes it well worth the efforts you know. I had plans to stop, but the dogs told me otherwise, so I adjusted my schedule, the one that I don't really have except what I feel was necessary at the time. From that one run right there it just set the bar for that team. They were ready for whatever we threw at them, and excelled. The tougher it is in raised conditions the better my team seems to do. I really don't have to stand here and say anything about them, they speak and brag for themselves.

Kevin Wells: And this is not a one generation kind of leader, this is a young generation of dogs this time, so the end might not be in sight?

Lance Mackey: Oh I hope not. I had seven new dogs on this team from last year, one of them I didn't even expect to make it just because she's not even two-years-old, but she will be this summer. A female named Maple who will be my superstar leader in the near future here. She led a lot of the way, and came in swinging here. She just stood up and excelled and I'm really proud of that dog team.

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