Stories....

The Iditarod 2015 is over, but stories will be told for a long time to come and I am putting a few of them here on my blog.  People from all walks of life give so much of their lives to their dogs.  They are all true athletes with a passion for what they do.  Karin told me that she has had dogs who did not have that passion, and they are not considered to be on the team! Simple!  Those who do have the passion want to run and appreciate the opportunity to do it.  This year, the video-cam at the burled arch was really good and it was a riot to watch the dogs at the end of the race, still jumping excitedly when they were allowed to run again…to the dog lots!  Many of the mushers got their start as handlers, but they “got to close to the vortex” and got sucked in! At any rate, I cannot pull myself away from my Iditarod Insider and the videos, stories and tracking the mushers via the GPS’s until the race is over…and now, I am having withdrawals!  

One of the mushers that I get a kick out of watching at the ceremonial start is Hugh Neff wearing his “Cat in the Hat” costume. He is a frequent visitor in classrooms and is excited to help promote and celebrate the fun of reading.  Hugh will carry the Cat in the Hat book across Alaska in his sled.  Once he crosses the finish line in Nome, he will deliver the book to the children of Nome.  Apparently, he has done this for over 20 Iditarods!  Go, Hugh!!!  

 Scott Janssen’s story:

Iditarod 2015 musher Scott Janssen scratched just outside of the Koyuk checkpoint. Janssen said his team lost the trail, and they spent more than 12 hours stranded on the ice in the worst blizzard he’s ever seen.

A search-and-rescue team found him hypothermic, with a sleeping bag draped over him and his 11 dogs.

“I couldn’t move,” he said. “My left arm was frozen to my body.”

SAR took him to the clinic at Koyuk, but Jannsen’s dog team stayed behind.

“I was crying,” Janssen said. “I didn’t want to leave my dogs.”

Fellow musher Lance Mackey came upon the team out on the ice, Janssen said. He hooked his leaders to the back of Janssen’s sled. The dogs wouldn’t move.

Then Mackey told them, “Let’s go find dad” — music to the dogs’ ears.

When Mackey came into the checkpoint, the checker said it looked like a ghost team leading Mackey’s team.

“When Lance came into the checkpoint, he had tears streaming down his face. All the way in, he thought I was out on the ice dead somewhere,” Janssen said. “Without Lance Mackey getting my dogs in…he is an incredible friend, an incredible musher and an incredible person.”

Katherine Keith's story:

  Katherine Keith scratched in Unalakleet and these are her words: “So here's what happened... As I arrived at the Old Woman shelter cabin, 35 miles outside of Unalakleet, I noticed that my beautiful young leader, Loki, was bleeding from his nose. 

  Shortly, the bleeding became more profuse and was from his mouth as well. Before long, he was struggling to breathe and there was rattling in one of his lungs. 

  There were four other mushers resting at the shelter cabin and everyone present agreed that Loki would not make it if he didn't receive emergency care immediately. We believed that he had a spontaneous pneumothorax or something like that which was causing blood to pool in his lungs. 

  We were at least 7 hours to Unalakleet by the time I could feed the team and made it to town carrying him. The only other option was to push the "help" button on the spot tracker to get a snow machine out there to drive Loki in. Race rules dictate that when a musher pushes the help button they are immediately withdrawn from the race. 

  So in choosing to get help for Loki, when I pushed the button, I knew that my race was now over. 

  I relied on the consensus of the other mushers with more experience than I and we unanimously agreed that there was really no choice- that button needed to be pushed. 

   Lance and Jason Mackey came through the shelter cabin and Lance was concerned that the snow machines would not get there quick enough. His team was moving faster then ours and was more rested, so Lance offered to carry Loki in case the snow machines were delayed. 

   The happy ending was that Loki made it to Unalakleet where a super team of vets took care of him. He is now doing great back home in Kotzebue! I ran my team in the rest of the way to Unalakleet in hopes that the race committee would allow our race to continue-which was not the case. 

   Thanks to all the mushers at Old Woman for their support, the great vet team, and to Lance for carrying Loki in! While the team didn't get the chance to make it all the way to Nome this year they made me proud!”

After all he does for others, two of Lance's dogs died for no apparent reason ... both 3 year-olds.

Lance Mackey is an Iditarod legend. Cancer survivor, the only 4-in-a-row winner of the Iditarod race, loved and respected by other mushers, volunteers,  and fans.  He is loved especially by his brother, Jason, who ran this year’s race close to Lance. He wanted to be close by in case his help was needed.  Lance was dealing with terible pain from Raynaud’s disease--made especially painful and troublesome in the 40° to 60° below zero temps. The two dogs who died had passed the exams at checkpoints and showed no signs of distress. It breaks my heart.  

  Further testing will be conducted to finish the necropsy studies according to Iditarod Chief Veterinarian Stuart Nelson, Jr.  

   Lance and Jason, are both devastated by the loss of their dogs, but the veterinarians assure them that there was nothing that could have been done.  

   It just seems so unfair....in spite of his own issues, Lance is credited for saving Katherine Keith’s sled dog and the whole team of dogs belonging to Scott Jenssen.   

   Lance is a true hero in my book...and many others, too.  He was chosen by the mushers to receive this year's Sportsmanship Award! GOD BLESS LANCE MACKEY!