For those unfortunate of you that do not yet know -- Lance Mackey won the Iditarod at 11:38 AM Wednesday March 18. He is one of only 3 mushers to have won 3 in a row. He is the first musher ever to finish in first with 15 dogs. Lance said he could have coaxed the 16th dog along but noticed that he was not enthusiastic after a section of rough trail. Since the dog is only a 2-year-old, Mackey said he was afraid keeping him on the team might compromise his future development. Lance said he was extremely proud of his dogs. His leader on the first part of the trail, Maple, was not even 2 years old -- but it was good old Larry that carried him across the Bering Sea. Mackey said that he will retire Larry (who is 9 years old) this year. Although he can still count on him in difficult situations, Larry has been pulling some "boners" of late which Lance feels indicate that he has had enough. We will miss him!
For those of you less interested in mushing I will be moving on to other topics in the near future, but there is one more big competition for sprinters (ADMA) this weekend in Fairbanks -- so bear with me.
Congratulations to Lance and Happy retirement to Good Old Larry. I like good old Larry, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's been fun reading all about the races and dogs. Keep enjoying your many adventures!
I will miss Larry!
ReplyDeleteOne of the reporters at the finish line said there is an old saying among mushers "You can always get another wife or husband, but a good lead dog -- that is something that doesn't come along very often."
ReplyDeleteJackie,
ReplyDeleteCorey and I were talking today about how useful all of this Iditarod knowledge has been for us lately. Until you were there, I knew nothing of it...now, it comes up in casual conversation regularly! Fantastic!
We miss you terribly, but happy you are enjoying it! (Do be careful!)