About Lance...Born and raised in Alaska, Lance Mackey has grown up around dog mushing and tough times. His father, Dick Mackey, was one of the founders of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race ,which was officially organized in 1973. It is a grueling 1,200 mile sled dog race across Alaska's wilderness. Dick went on to win the 1978 Iditarod race by ONE second. Alaskans still talk about that great race. In 1983, Lance's oldest brother, Rick , was the winner of the Iditarod. For Lance, this was his legacy, as a son, as a brother and as an up and coming dog musher. Lance wanted to win the Iditarod also. This dream almost ended when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001 and underwent extensive surgery as well as radiation treatment.

Determined to move forward. Lance started the 2002 Iditarod with a feeding tube still in place in his stomach but had to drop out of the race halfway into it. Lance took 2003 off to regroup. For the next several years he continued to run dogs and dream of winning the Iditarod. In 2005 he entered the Yukon Quest, another challenging 1,000 mile sled dog race, winning it in his rookie year. Repeating that in 2006, 2007 & 2008 making him the only 4 time Yukon Quest Champion in history. In 2007, he returned to the Iditarod also.  Again he beat the odds and did what was previously thought to be impossible, he won both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year and within two weeks of each other. He repeated that feat in 2008. In 2009 he won the Iditarod again, defeating intense competition and severe weather. Perhaps his greatest personal accomplishment is that he has been honored on both the Quest and the Iditarod for taking the best care of his dogs, who he considers to be the true champions.

Lance demonstrates the true spirit of what Alaskans are. His incredible back to back Quest and Iditarod championships show his grit, determination, and his appetite for "tough".  He has been nominated twice for national ESPY awards losing only to the likes of Tiger Woods.

Lance will say "tell me it can't be done,... I'll give it everything I’ve got to prove that it can. Can't is a word that I do not want to understand. I always try to do my very best, I may not always finish number one, but it will always be the best I can do".

Lance has worked very hard to be where he is today and sacrificed beyond most peoples' comprehension. He is a husband, married to his high school sweetheart, Tonya, a father, a cancer survivor, a 3 time Iditarod Champion, a 4 time Yukon Quest Champion and a down to earth, regular guy. He has served as an inspiration for countless numbers of people.

It's attitude and appetite that make him who he is. He constantly reminds us that “Dreams can and do come true”.

Lance's father, Dick Mackey, was one of the founders of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race which was officially organized in 1973. He then won the race in 1978 by ONE second. Alaskans still talk about that race. Lnce has three brothers and a sister, all of whom are involved in dog racing. His oldest brother, Rick Mackey, was the winner of the 1983 Iditarod.

Lance really did grow up around sled dogs, this is him at 4 months at a local sled dog race.

Dog racing is an important part of Alaska’s heritage as well as a popular sport throughout the world. For the Mackey family, it’s a way of life.

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Survivalist survivor:
Iditarod winner gives cancer patients hope
Associated Press Monday, March 19, 2007
NOME, Alaska — When it comes to a tough fight, winning the longest sled dog race in the world is no match for what it takes to beat cancer, said Lance Mackey, this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion.

The 36-year-old musher, who on March 13 did something no other musher had done — get back-to-back wins in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race — was diagnosed with neck cancer in 2001 and underwent surgery and radiation.

With a feeding tube into his stomach and still undergoing cancer treatment, Mackey started the 2002 Iditarod, but was forced to scratch in Ophir — still more than 400 miles into the race from Anchorage.

Mackey, who is now cancer-free, said it is no accident his kennel is named Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel.

"Don't ever doubt I can't do something," Mackey said in Nome after his win. "I lived through cancer."

"I made it through stronger than ever to make my dream a reality," he said.

Mackey's status as a cancer survivor and winner of the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races will inspire other people with cancer, said Christine Schultz, 42, of Nome, a medical social worker who stood out in subzero temperatures with co-workers from Norton Sound Regional Hospital to watch Mackey cross the finish line.

Not only did Mackey's dog team look strong, wagging their tails and barking when they came in, but Mackey looked good, too, particularly after mushing a dog team the same distance as from New York to Miami. He ran up Front Street next to his sled with both arms raised in victory high above his head.

Some of Schultz's patients are being treated for cancer, and Mackey is going to be a powerful symbol for them, she said.

"I think it gives people hope they can overcome cancer and live their dreams," she said.

Connie Madden, 72, who owns Fat Freddies Restaurant in Nome with her husband, was diagnosed with lymphoma 14 years ago. She is cancer-free now but didn't think that would ever happen when she was diagnosed.

"When they told me I had cancer — you think your life is over," she said. "For new cancer patients, they can see what Lance Mackey has done. Cancer didn't kill him, maybe it's not going to kill me."

There was an underlying theme of cancer throughout the 2007 Iditarod, even beyond Mackey.

Cancer survivor DeeDee Jonrowe, 53, of Willow, Alaska, competing in her 25th Iditarod and still looking for a first-place finish — she's come in second twice — had to bow out early from this year's race.

While feeding her dogs and sipping hot chocolate early on in the race, she talked about what might be making her feel so lousy this year.

"I am bone-tired," Jonrowe said at Finger Lake, only about a quarter of the way to Nome.

Jonrowe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and underwent a double mastectomy. She said she has gone through four surgeries.

"It is harder after chemo," Jonrowe said. "I am not going to be silly and try to pretend that didn't make a difference. It did."

However, she said she wasn't really complaining because she survived cancer and was alive to talk about it and run another Iditarod.

Jonrowe scratched at the next checkpoint at Rainy Pass after taking several spills on the trail, breaking her little finger and injuring her hand.

At the musher's banquet before the race in Anchorage, Jonrowe talked about what it would be like to be on the trail this year without four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, who died of leukemia last August. The two women started out as competitors but it was going through cancer that brought them closer and cemented their friendship, she said.

Butcher was diagnosed with cancer three months after Jonrowe, she said.

"I haven't been on the Iditarod without Susan," Jonrowe said. "I want her here. She was my sister."

The two, she said, were engaged in a "medical war" together and Jonrowe desperately wanted to win the Iditarod this year for Butcher, this year's honorary musher.

Butcher's husband, Dave Monson, and their 11-year-old daughter, Tekla, are driving dog teams on the trail and headed to Nome on a memorial run.

Monson said in some way he feels he's taking Susan to Nome with him one last time. He left some of her ashes at her favorite spot called "Old Woman" between Kaltag and Unalakleet.