Who is Lance Mackey?

                                      Leah and LANCE MACKEY!!!!

"Who is Lance Mackey?"-- was my response to my 13 year old's excited pronouncement that "Lance Mackey is going to be here!  Did you know that, Mom?  I’m going to get to meet Lance Mackey!"  We were in Fairbanks getting ready to board the Riverboat Discovery (which is the touristic thing that you do with your family when vacationing in the summer in Fairbanks, Alaska).  This large, historic paddle boat departs from the almost-a-big-as-Alaska-itself tourist shop at Steamboat Landing on the banks of the Chena River. http://riverboatdiscovery.com/

Leah could hardly wait to get back after the "three hour tour" to see the famous Iditarod Champion, Lance, and his sled dog,  "Amp", who would be there for a book and photo signing event.


But before our encounter with Mr. Mackey we were surprised to be exposed to even more dog mushing by passing by the famous Trail Breaker Kennel owned by another very well-known sledder and four-time Iditarod winner, Susan Butcher, and her husband, David Monson.  Susan, sadly died (waaaay too young) in 2006 from cancer, but her husband and family still own the kennel and share her legacy by showing off their dogs in a summer workout demonstration to all of us watching from the port side of the boat.     http://www.susanbutcher.com/

With no snow and (relatively speaking, hot temps, ~60 degrees)
these Butcher pups train by pulling an engine-less four-wheeler
 around a track that surrounds the Trail Breaker Kennels. 

We saw David again on down the river when he appeared at the Atlabaskan Fish Village to sign the children's book Granite about his amazing wife and her famously determined dog, Granite.  Yes, it felt a little gimmicky; yes, I did buy the book; and, yes, I got teared up as I took this picture of my mom with a bronze of this sweet and powerful canine.

http://www.trailbreakeralaska.com/

Granite (in bronze) with Betty (in the flesh)

But back to Lance:  Lance Mackey, like Susan Butcher, is a four-time Iditarod champion and also, like his predecessor, had cancer--throat cancer some 10 or eleven years ago.  Unlike Susan however, he has survived the disease and, like another famous cancer-survivor named Lance, has appeared to dominate his sport apres-treatment winning the grueling 1000 mile sled race over arctic tundra from Anchorage to Nome in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.  http://www.iditarod.com/ 

Once we were back on shore Leah cut the trail straight back to where Lance would be.  Extrovert that she is, she walked right up to him in her burnt-orange hoodie and somehow, right off the bat, he noted that she was from Texas and was impressed that she even knew who he was.  "We don't get a lot press down there," Mackey remarked.  But Leah set him straight explaining that they had studied the Iditarod Race in her 7th grade English class the previous year and told him that her teacher, Ms. Wendel would think it very cool (pun intended) that she had encountered him by accident in the middle of Alaska.

Mr. Mackey came off as a very kind man thanking Leah for her interest and encouraging her to continue to work hard at her passion.  He talked to her about her soccer, her school and even about her dog.  Leah brushed with greatness, whilst I stood back and marveled at that ever-growing phenomena of my child knowing more than I do.  Who is Lance Mackey?  Leah can tell you all about him.

     "Amp"
        http://www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com/