March 18, 2009

Iditarod won by Lance Mackey for third time

Mackey family now five-time Iditarod winners

Fairbanks musher Lance Mackey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Wednesday in Nome, Alaska for the third consecutive year.

Mackey finished the grueling 1,100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome just shy of 10 days and hours ahead of his closet competitor.

For the win Mackey collected $69,000 and a new pickup truck. At least 6 hours behind him were 2009 Yukon Quest champ Sebastian Schnuelle and Kotzebue musher John Baker competing for second place.

Mackey finished the race with 15 dogs at 11:38 AM Alaska time with an official time of 9 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes, 46 seconds. Mackey endured a fierce storm that dropped temperatures to 50 below zero along the final stretch and forced many competitors to wait out the storm at checkpoints. The temperature in Nome at the time of his finish was 27 degrees below zero.

The Mackey family has now won five Iditarod races, as his father, Dick, won it in 1978 and his older brother, Rick, captured the 1983 race.