Lance Mackey made history early this morning by winning not only his 2nd consecutive Iditarod, but his 2nd consecutive back-to-back win of the Iditarod and Yukon Quest dog sled races.
With only 11 dogs (many of them the same ones he just ran the Yukon Quest with), Mackey was not only able to hold 2nd place Jeff King at bay, he actually extended his lead on the 4-time Iditarod winner. King left White Mountain 57 minutes after Mackey (after a mandatory 8 hour rest stop), but pulled into Nome 79 minutes after him, at 4:05 this morning.
One key moment that very likely cost King the race occurred in Elim, where Mackey acted as if he was going to stick around for a while and give his dogs a rest. But as soon as he saw King hunker down for a quick nap, he made his move and left Elim – and soon had a 44 minute lead on King.
No matter how Mackey has managed to pull this off two years in a row, the feat has been nothing short of amazing. It’s going to be exciting to watch him in the years to come. Maybe he’ll go for a 6-peat next year?
Photo from the Anchorage Daily News
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