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keep you motivated.”Only 2 other racers, Susan Butcher(1986-88) and Doug Swingley(1999-2001), have won the Iditarod3 consecutive times. But, itwas one of the awards given by theveterinarians after the race thatMackey most treasures. He wasgiven the “Humanitarian Award”.For an animal lover like Mackey,this was priceless. “I would tradethe truck, the money everythingfor that award.” It means the vetsalong the racecourse think thatMackey had the best care for hisdog team.One part of the process that iseasier for Mackey now is the availabilityof sponsors to him. He cannow focus on training and racingfull time. And, it is an expensivegame to play “$100K a year is aconservative amount to spend ona racing team” said Mackey. Heputs in $60-70K a year.He now has another possible awardon the horizon, an ESPY. “I havehad 3 years of being nominated,”he said, “just being nominated ishuge even if I don’t win.”When asked what words of wisdomhe would pass along to futuremushers, Mackey responded:“It’s a passionate sport that takeseffort. You must be patient, there’sno overnight success. You only getout of it what you put in.” Lancerecalls going without family vacationsso that they could put all oftheir money into their racing dogs.I couldn’t avoid the temptation tocompare this Lance to another famousrace-winning-cancer-survivingLance. Wouldn’t you know it;I wasn’t the first to make this comparison.“We got approached bythe Lance Armstrong Foundationto come down to Texas and do acommercial with him.” The otherdetails Mackey is not too sure of,“My wife handles that,” he said.In case you are wondering aboutthe next generation of racingMackeys. Lance’s teenaged son,Cain Mackey, is proving this is afamily tradition. He just won theJr. Iditarod. And now, Lance getsto feel the same type of pride hisfather has felt for him.But Lance isn’t hanging up hisracing sled just yet. His goal for2010? “To get as many happy andhealthy dogs to Nome as I can!”His final words to me were notabout himself. “We thank the fansand all of those who support us andthe dogs.” •Adventure World Magazine May 2009 12