Iditarod legend Lance Mackey dies at 52

 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Iditarod legend Lance Mackey has died, according to an online post from his father and confirmed by a friend of the family, who announced his death on their Facebook page late Wednesday night. Mackey was 52.

Bill Borden, a friend of the family and former Iditarod musher himself, confirmed to Alaska’s News Source Thursday morning that Mackey has passed on.

The four-time Iditarod champion was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001 but overcame the illness after undergoing both surgery and radiation therapy. He then announced his second bout with cancer in August 2021.

After his first diagnosis, Mackey went on to accomplish a string of achievements in the sport of mushing. He won four consecutive Yukon Quest races from 2005 to 2008, and four consecutive Iditarod races from 2007 to 2010.

Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.

She Should Get the Award for "Toughest Musher"

This woman's got some grit, folks.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher Cindy Abbott became the race’s 66th and final finisher for 2015 Sunday evening, earning its Red Lantern award for being the last musher to reach Nome.

Iditarod spokeswoman Julie Busch in Nome confirmed that Abbott had finished at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday. Official race standings subsequently updated to reflect her arrival at 9:19 p.m., logging a total time of 13 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds.

Abbott’s final time puts her more than four and a half days behind Dallas Seavey’s race-winning finish early Wednesday after eight days, 18 hours, 13 minutes and six seconds. 

Abbott’s Iditarod biography said she was diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis, a rare disease causing inflammation of the blood vessels, shortly after she began training for an ascent of Mount Everest in 2007.

Abbott first attempted The Last Great Race in 2013, only to suffer a leg injury after just 20 miles on the trail. When she felt better after a few hours’ rest, she continued to the next checkpoint.

“In this way, Cindy went from checkpoint to checkpoint until, on day 10 and 630 miles into the race, her condition worsened and, for the safety of her team, she scratched at Kaltag,” the biography said. “When she got back to Anchorage, she was told that her pelvis was broken in two places.”

Abbott took a second run at the Iditarod in 2014, but poor weather and a shoulder injury forced her to scratch at Rohn. Despite the second setback, she was undeterred in her hopes to reach Nome this year, carrying a special banner from the National Organization of Rare Diseases with which she finally summited Everest in 2010.

“This time she plans on getting her NORD banner photo standing under the Burled Arch,” the biography said.

She's got toughness that most of us will never experience. Well done, Cindy!

Iditarod Musher & Team Struck by SUV

ANCHORAGE - A gloomy Thanksgiving Day couldn’t dampen the spirits of Karin Hendrickson.

"That's what gives my life focus, that's what I care about.  If I'm not running dogs, I don't know what the heck I would be doing."

(Photo from www.adn.com)

Hendrickson spoke to the media from her bed at Providence Hospital Thursday for the first time since surviving an accident on the Parks Highway Tuesday night.

She vividly remembers what happened to her 14 dogs as she was practicing on a dirt trail paralleling the highway.  A driver lost control of her SUV near mile marker 91 and left the road.

"I was watching it, and thought, we're going to be OK; it came over the edge, missed all the dogs and plowed into the four wheeler, head on."

Hendrickson says she was knocked 20 feet into the air.

"I was kind of waiving my hands and feet and trying to stay oriented, and landed on my feet, down in the ditch, and then flew backwards onto my back."

Despite being injured, Hendrickson called a friend and asked for help with finding her dog team.  The animals has been separated during the accident, all the dogs have been accounted for.

"They were looked over by a vet right after the accident and they're all fine.  There are a couple scrapes and bruises, one dog had a cut on his foot, but really, really minor."

Hendrickson wasn’t so lucky.  The six time Iditarod participant suffered a broken back.  She moved to Alaska in 2003 just to become a musher and is determined to be healed before Iditarod 2016.

"My recovery is going to take a little longer.  But they say it's going to be a full recovery and I should be able to get back to mushing in a year or so."

I said it before: Alaskans are tougher than average. You can see the whole story and interview here.

Leader's Injury Casts Somber Mood Over Yukon Quest

A head injury took Eureka musher Brent Sass out of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, casting a somber mood Sunday in a race known for its camaraderie among competitors.

Sass, who led the 1,000-mile race at the midway point, was airlifted to a hospital in Whitehorse, Yukon, where he was treated and released. A report on his kennel’s Facebook page said he was resting and doing well Sunday night.

... Sass fell off his sled during the 70-mile run from Carmacks to Braeburn, race officials said. He was about 12 miles from Braeburn.

By all accounts, Sass was well ahead of the pack before receiving the injury that took him out of the race. Our prayers go out to him.

Missing Musher: FOUND

Melanie Gould, the 34-year-old musher from Talkeetna, has been found. Tired, hungry ... but alive.
The report doesn't say where she's been, or where she was found. But the details, such as they are, can be found at http://www.adn.com/2011/06/11/1911137/missing-talkeetna-musher-located.html - (Blogger's "link" button isn't working, this morning.)