1 00:00:14,628 --> 00:00:16,151 Welcome to Front Street, Nome. 2 00:00:16,222 --> 00:00:18,815 This is Iditarod 1978. 3 00:00:18,925 --> 00:00:21,042 There's about 400 people here in Front Street, Nome. 4 00:00:21,073 --> 00:00:24,870 Two mushers, Rick Swenson and Dick Mackey are less than a 5 00:00:24,919 --> 00:00:28,195 mile from the finish line, the end of the Iditarod trail. 6 00:00:29,667 --> 00:00:32,538 Oh, I can see the teams. They are neck and neck by golly. 7 00:00:32,587 --> 00:00:34,235 From here Chris you should have an awfully 8 00:00:34,284 --> 00:00:35,618 good view from your vantage point. 9 00:00:35,667 --> 00:00:37,429 Dick Mackey right now is ahead. 10 00:00:37,558 --> 00:00:39,493 He is pumping furiously. 11 00:00:39,542 --> 00:00:42,206 The dogs are moving very well down the front street. 12 00:00:42,363 --> 00:00:43,675 Dick Mackey is coming along. 13 00:00:43,722 --> 00:00:46,003 Tom, can you see them any better now than I? 14 00:00:48,581 --> 00:00:51,323 Here comes the first dog, the first lead dog, down the jute. 15 00:00:51,372 --> 00:00:55,784 And that indeed is number 13; 13 is Dick Mackey. 16 00:00:55,833 --> 00:00:56,839 They're both running. 17 00:00:56,878 --> 00:00:59,378 Rick Swenson maybe 4 feet behind Mackey. 18 00:00:59,511 --> 00:01:02,003 The dogs look awfully good. Here comes Dick Mackey. 19 00:01:02,097 --> 00:01:03,964 The team is pulling up almost neck and neck. 20 00:01:04,011 --> 00:01:07,421 And Mackey just, oh my God. 21 00:01:10,394 --> 00:01:13,448 Dick Mackey collapsed. There's a crowd of people around Dick. 22 00:01:13,511 --> 00:01:17,328 Mostly photographers. His son is with him right now. 23 00:01:17,784 --> 00:01:21,445 Dick Mackey, the winner of the 1978 Iditarod Trail Race. 24 00:01:21,855 --> 00:01:26,401 Official time is one second apart between the two racers. 25 00:01:26,441 --> 00:01:30,659 It was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes, 24 seconds. 26 00:01:31,183 --> 00:01:35,432 Just finished 1,049 miles of an incredibly difficult trail. 27 00:01:35,503 --> 00:01:38,085 Lucky number 13. He did it. 28 00:01:41,097 --> 00:01:44,964 [music] 29 00:01:45,159 --> 00:01:46,776 I remember like it was yesterday. 30 00:01:50,456 --> 00:01:55,164 At 8 years old seeing dad win really, really stuck. 31 00:01:59,729 --> 00:02:01,867 All I wanted to do was be like my dad. 32 00:02:02,769 --> 00:02:04,625 I couldn't imitate him enough. 33 00:02:10,675 --> 00:02:13,831 3,2,1 Go! 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,578 We're back at it again. Wearing bib number 5, Lance Mackey. 35 00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:23,885 Back in 1978, father Dick won the Iditarod by one second. 36 00:02:26,816 --> 00:02:28,531 Lance Mackey is on his way to Nome. 37 00:02:44,284 --> 00:02:47,065 That's it. Hut, hut. That's it gentlemen. 38 00:02:48,041 --> 00:02:50,072 When I was young people would ask me 39 00:02:50,136 --> 00:02:51,605 'Are you related to Dick Mackey?' 40 00:02:52,221 --> 00:02:53,494 It was a pretty big deal. 41 00:02:53,543 --> 00:02:55,004 Good job guys. 42 00:02:59,151 --> 00:03:01,838 Winning the Iditarod was definitely my ultimate goal. 43 00:03:02,777 --> 00:03:04,620 It's a thousand miles over some 44 00:03:04,654 --> 00:03:06,369 of Mother Nature's worst terrain. 45 00:03:08,620 --> 00:03:11,431 I just wanted to accomplish what very few people have. 46 00:03:34,167 --> 00:03:37,469 The Iditarod is a 1,049 mile sled dog race 47 00:03:37,518 --> 00:03:41,003 across the arctic wilderness of Alaska. 48 00:03:46,671 --> 00:03:49,604 More people have summitted Mt. Everest than 49 00:03:49,653 --> 00:03:52,452 have successfully completed the Iditarod. 50 00:03:58,899 --> 00:04:04,295 In 2013 Lance Mackey attempted his 12th Iditarod. 51 00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:21,636 Hut. 52 00:04:27,036 --> 00:04:29,872 That's it. Good boys. 53 00:04:33,318 --> 00:04:34,411 Welcome to Nikolai Lance. 54 00:04:34,630 --> 00:04:35,630 Morning. 55 00:04:36,177 --> 00:04:37,731 I'll check your gear after you park. 56 00:04:37,763 --> 00:04:41,465 That's beautiful. Hut, hut. Alright. 57 00:04:46,286 --> 00:04:50,153 Lance Mackey is currently in 2nd place out of 66 mushers. 58 00:04:50,443 --> 00:04:55,153 Lance Mackey is 2013 Iditarod. You're second into Nikolai. 59 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,262 Are you feeling good coming in here? 60 00:04:57,841 --> 00:04:59,247 I'm kind of shocked at where we're 61 00:04:59,296 --> 00:05:00,641 at and the way they're performing. 62 00:05:01,348 --> 00:05:02,700 Have some straw. It's much warmer. 63 00:05:02,749 --> 00:05:04,059 They're young yeah. 64 00:05:04,108 --> 00:05:06,180 So I'm just driving this puppy team 65 00:05:06,229 --> 00:05:08,016 according to what I think they're capable. 66 00:05:08,262 --> 00:05:09,770 Ah, shit. 67 00:05:10,052 --> 00:05:11,784 Knowing the trail that you have left 68 00:05:11,833 --> 00:05:13,630 ahead of you, what's your plan? 69 00:05:13,818 --> 00:05:16,922 What's your goal then for the rest of 2013 Iditarod? 70 00:05:17,641 --> 00:05:19,688 Right at the moment I'm thinking 71 00:05:20,731 --> 00:05:24,051 one checkpoint at a time, one run at a time. 72 00:05:24,708 --> 00:05:26,450 You know? And just kind of trying 73 00:05:26,499 --> 00:05:29,901 to stay, you know, at the moment. 74 00:05:29,950 --> 00:05:31,305 Not thinking too far ahead. 75 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,743 Whether we get there first or twenty-first remains to be seen. 76 00:05:35,583 --> 00:05:36,977 It looks pretty good at the moment. 77 00:05:37,833 --> 00:05:40,028 Lance Mackey in Nikolai. Reporting for 78 00:05:40,077 --> 00:05:42,953 Iditarod 41; I'm Laureli Kinneen. 79 00:05:54,403 --> 00:05:56,180 Hut. Come on there. Hut. 80 00:06:02,786 --> 00:06:07,473 That's it. Alright. Alright. That a boys'. 81 00:06:14,930 --> 00:06:17,051 I tell people all the time when they'd ask me 82 00:06:17,146 --> 00:06:18,320 'When did you start racing?' 83 00:06:18,966 --> 00:06:21,023 I say 'Before I was born.' 84 00:06:24,434 --> 00:06:27,156 He really did start mushing before he was born. 85 00:06:27,997 --> 00:06:31,232 I was 7 months pregnant with him when 86 00:06:31,281 --> 00:06:33,086 I was in the North American Race. 87 00:06:34,981 --> 00:06:38,055 He had his little foot right under my ribcage. 88 00:06:38,521 --> 00:06:40,598 And every time I'd kick, he'd kick. 89 00:06:40,755 --> 00:06:43,469 And he was just kicking his way out. 90 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:45,872 He wasn't very big when he was born. 91 00:06:46,724 --> 00:06:49,124 Oh, what a little terror in there. 92 00:06:51,465 --> 00:06:52,797 Lance grew up in a dog lot. 93 00:06:53,699 --> 00:06:55,864 When he was old enough to carry one 94 00:06:55,913 --> 00:06:58,698 of these little kid's beach pails 95 00:06:58,747 --> 00:07:03,723 and a little shovel he'd be out there and he'd give them food, 96 00:07:03,969 --> 00:07:06,055 or he'd haul water or whatever. 97 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,153 As soon as he was old enough I built Lance his own 98 00:07:10,202 --> 00:07:12,641 sled and sewed him up his harnesses and stuff. 99 00:07:14,700 --> 00:07:20,000 He entered his first race and he won it. I mean it was great. 100 00:07:24,450 --> 00:07:28,476 Every waking moment it was something to do with dogs. 101 00:07:31,536 --> 00:07:33,106 Lance, are you going to boot them all? 102 00:07:33,224 --> 00:07:34,224 Yeah. 103 00:07:34,396 --> 00:07:39,528 5,4,3,2,1 Go. 104 00:07:39,841 --> 00:07:41,692 Lance Mackey is on the trail. 105 00:07:44,105 --> 00:07:47,801 Finish line will be where the banner is hanging up there. 106 00:07:48,206 --> 00:07:50,051 Other mushers always at the house. 107 00:07:50,309 --> 00:07:52,312 Our house was a congregating point. 108 00:07:52,856 --> 00:07:54,856 And he'd sit there and listen to all of this 109 00:07:54,996 --> 00:07:56,773 conversation about dogs. 110 00:07:57,878 --> 00:08:00,317 It's hard to be in a room like that full of people 111 00:08:00,366 --> 00:08:02,671 and not feel the excitement that they're feeling. 112 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,086 Or the energy that they're feeling. 113 00:08:04,781 --> 00:08:06,445 And I want to be a part of that. 114 00:08:08,219 --> 00:08:10,512 At the time I didn't know the significance 115 00:08:10,561 --> 00:08:11,812 of who was in my living room. 116 00:08:12,622 --> 00:08:14,484 Joe Reddington Sr. was at our house a lot. 117 00:08:15,208 --> 00:08:16,219 That was Grandpa Joe. 118 00:08:18,125 --> 00:08:19,613 The Iditarod was started because of 119 00:08:19,662 --> 00:08:21,172 a gentleman named Joe Reddington 120 00:08:21,657 --> 00:08:23,362 who saw the sled dog disappearing 121 00:08:23,411 --> 00:08:24,950 from the native villages of Alaska. 122 00:08:24,999 --> 00:08:26,037 And he didn't want it. 123 00:08:26,314 --> 00:08:29,453 He didn't want the sled dog to disappear from the state. 124 00:08:29,833 --> 00:08:31,488 And so he started this race to make 125 00:08:31,545 --> 00:08:33,072 sure that those villages would keep the 126 00:08:33,121 --> 00:08:35,271 sled dogs intact and that Alaska wouldn't 127 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:36,625 lose that part of their history. 128 00:08:37,755 --> 00:08:40,812 Joe and I wrote down what we thought the rules would be. 129 00:08:41,286 --> 00:08:44,150 The first one was that the race shall start on the first 130 00:08:44,206 --> 00:08:48,541 Saturday of March at 10:00 131 00:08:48,568 --> 00:08:50,042 in the morning regardless of weather. 132 00:08:50,406 --> 00:08:52,434 The Iditarod is a thousand miles. 133 00:08:52,483 --> 00:08:54,844 And it starts in Anchorage and it goes all the way to Nome. 134 00:08:55,270 --> 00:08:57,348 It goes up over the Alaska range some of the 135 00:08:57,397 --> 00:08:59,754 tallest mountains and peaks in the world, 136 00:08:59,934 --> 00:09:02,300 it goes through the cold bank of the interior before 137 00:09:02,356 --> 00:09:05,112 it hits the Yukon River and then the Artic Coast; 138 00:09:05,241 --> 00:09:06,641 the Bering Sea Coast. 139 00:09:07,105 --> 00:09:09,672 The rules are pretty bare bone jungle rules. 140 00:09:10,155 --> 00:09:13,644 No assistance. You can come into villages. 141 00:09:13,699 --> 00:09:15,480 You can take advantage of hospitality, 142 00:09:15,529 --> 00:09:16,933 but there's no pit crew. 143 00:09:17,090 --> 00:09:20,183 The winner will generally do it in less than 9 days now. 144 00:09:20,394 --> 00:09:23,456 With mushers out on the trail for 14-15 days. 145 00:09:24,414 --> 00:09:26,972 I've seen broken bones out there. 146 00:09:27,339 --> 00:09:29,456 These people defy common sense. 147 00:09:29,512 --> 00:09:32,917 They defy the average laws of toughness. 148 00:09:33,590 --> 00:09:35,839 The very first year they didn't know 149 00:09:35,888 --> 00:09:37,625 if anybody would even get to Nome. 150 00:09:38,971 --> 00:09:39,980 You know? 151 00:09:40,888 --> 00:09:42,949 And when they left we didn't know 152 00:09:42,980 --> 00:09:44,109 if we'd ever see them again. 153 00:09:45,492 --> 00:09:46,972 I'm proud of the fact that my dad was 154 00:09:47,021 --> 00:09:48,750 involved putting this event together. 155 00:09:50,321 --> 00:09:55,133 This is Lance's second Junior Iditarod. He is 15 years old. 156 00:09:56,068 --> 00:09:58,601 He's one of the famous Mackey Iditarod clan. 157 00:09:59,117 --> 00:10:03,680 All Lance ever knew was Iditarod. That's all he knew. 158 00:10:04,528 --> 00:10:09,883 Lance Mackey 1986 Junior Iditarod. 159 00:10:10,377 --> 00:10:12,018 Lance, congratulations. 160 00:10:12,378 --> 00:10:13,978 You did your best boy. 161 00:10:14,542 --> 00:10:16,617 Don't let nobody get in front of you. 162 00:10:17,910 --> 00:10:21,495 Alright. Smile. The Mackey boys. 163 00:10:23,472 --> 00:10:25,187 Those two were always up to something. 164 00:10:26,284 --> 00:10:28,281 What one didn't think of, the other did. 165 00:10:30,177 --> 00:10:31,463 We couldn't get away with nothing 166 00:10:31,684 --> 00:10:33,831 You know they always say 'Mom knows everything.' Well, 167 00:10:34,026 --> 00:10:35,336 you best believe they do. 168 00:10:36,729 --> 00:10:39,252 She would catch us doing things sometimes 169 00:10:39,301 --> 00:10:40,777 that we weren't supposed to be doing. 170 00:10:42,921 --> 00:10:45,588 Sure enough, here she'd come. It's mom. 171 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,070 I started flying when I was big enough to reach the pedals. 172 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,194 Dick bought me an airplane for Christmas. 173 00:10:53,304 --> 00:10:54,749 I just about killed myself in it. 174 00:10:55,469 --> 00:10:57,552 I was safe. I mean I never cracked one up. 175 00:10:57,601 --> 00:10:59,469 I didn't, you know, I never had 176 00:11:00,999 --> 00:11:02,453 I went through the trees one time. 177 00:11:06,922 --> 00:11:10,203 Mom's always been more or less a tomboy. 178 00:11:11,379 --> 00:11:15,156 She always had short hair. Kind of looked like a guy. 179 00:11:15,438 --> 00:11:17,437 She had no problem digging ditches and 180 00:11:17,812 --> 00:11:19,242 banging nails or whatever. 181 00:11:20,867 --> 00:11:22,757 She used to take us down to the airport 182 00:11:22,806 --> 00:11:24,430 and just watch planes fly. 183 00:11:24,914 --> 00:11:27,469 Landing and, you know, touch and go's and all that. 184 00:11:27,937 --> 00:11:30,297 And you know our big thing was 'What kind of plane is that?' 185 00:11:33,593 --> 00:11:38,491 I remember one day she took us down to watch the airplanes. 186 00:11:38,836 --> 00:11:41,124 It was odd to see mom drinking beer 187 00:11:41,173 --> 00:11:43,086 at, you know, 10:00 in the morning. 188 00:11:43,836 --> 00:11:46,179 And driving for one. You know? 189 00:11:46,226 --> 00:11:47,976 So something was up. It was real quiet. 190 00:11:48,951 --> 00:11:51,398 I was sitting there watching these damn airplanes take off. 191 00:11:51,447 --> 00:11:54,930 And she broke it to us that her and dad was splitting up. 192 00:11:55,903 --> 00:11:57,296 He wouldn't be coming home. 193 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:10,491 Dad and I just ain't - dad's not going to live here no more. 194 00:12:13,836 --> 00:12:16,648 Well, what did we do? You know? 195 00:12:17,633 --> 00:12:19,077 How come dad ain't going to live with 196 00:12:19,181 --> 00:12:20,866 us no more? Don't he like us no more? 197 00:12:21,334 --> 00:12:22,616 You know? And they were little. 198 00:12:22,703 --> 00:12:25,866 They don't understand. Hell, I didn't understand. 199 00:12:29,015 --> 00:12:32,211 I had been with Dick since I was 19 years old. 200 00:12:33,904 --> 00:12:35,937 What the Hell am I going to do now? 201 00:12:39,006 --> 00:12:40,171 I didn't know. 202 00:12:41,193 --> 00:12:46,249 I just knew that my kids were going to be with me. Period. 203 00:13:25,906 --> 00:13:27,968 I felt like my dad abandoned us. 204 00:13:31,402 --> 00:13:32,851 You know? He'd send money for dog 205 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:34,327 food or whatever occasionally. 206 00:13:35,623 --> 00:13:37,632 I say occasionally. He probably did it every month. 207 00:13:37,687 --> 00:13:40,030 Mom used it for bills if need be, you know? 208 00:13:40,687 --> 00:13:41,740 Hut. 209 00:13:43,810 --> 00:13:45,477 It was just a struggle. 210 00:13:50,866 --> 00:13:51,866 Hut. 211 00:13:56,452 --> 00:13:57,452 That's it, hut. 212 00:14:05,826 --> 00:14:07,045 They're coming. 213 00:14:09,233 --> 00:14:11,694 There he is. Woohoo. 214 00:14:17,936 --> 00:14:19,295 Welcome to McGrath man. 215 00:14:19,686 --> 00:14:20,694 How's it going? 216 00:14:20,725 --> 00:14:21,725 Pretty good. 217 00:14:26,483 --> 00:14:27,897 Thanks for your help out here again. 218 00:14:27,946 --> 00:14:28,946 You bet. 219 00:14:29,768 --> 00:14:37,076 Hut. Let him go. Let him go. Alright. Hut. 220 00:14:38,123 --> 00:14:39,323 Hey, get up there. 221 00:14:40,944 --> 00:14:42,506 Let me reach down there for a second. 222 00:14:57,530 --> 00:14:58,530 There we go. 223 00:15:00,051 --> 00:15:01,558 Listen to me boys. 224 00:15:17,668 --> 00:15:20,308 Alright. Hut. Hut. 225 00:16:01,519 --> 00:16:05,926 I wished I'd a spent more time with the kids. 226 00:16:07,543 --> 00:16:09,730 Hell, I was off work at- 227 00:16:13,457 --> 00:16:20,566 You get home from work, ya eat, then you go run dogs. 228 00:16:21,472 --> 00:16:22,488 Okay? 229 00:16:26,402 --> 00:16:28,316 Then you feed them, then you go bed. 230 00:16:29,585 --> 00:16:30,964 Then you get up the next day. 231 00:16:32,844 --> 00:16:35,198 When were you going to spend time with your kids? 232 00:16:36,339 --> 00:16:41,886 Weekends? Okay. And what did you do then? Dogs. 233 00:16:45,183 --> 00:16:46,308 You want to be a part of it? 234 00:16:47,073 --> 00:16:48,769 Come on kid. You know? 235 00:16:48,824 --> 00:16:50,191 That's just the way it was. 236 00:16:53,425 --> 00:16:58,134 I knew the personalities, and quirks, and in and outs 237 00:16:58,183 --> 00:17:02,137 of my dogs better than I understood my children. 238 00:17:18,801 --> 00:17:21,829 My dad was 80 years old before I 239 00:17:21,878 --> 00:17:23,784 went fishing or hunting with him. 240 00:17:24,215 --> 00:17:25,995 Living in the state of Alaska? 241 00:17:26,426 --> 00:17:27,800 Are you kidding me? 242 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,017 Soon as my kids were old enough to walk 243 00:17:31,066 --> 00:17:32,745 I bought them a fishing pole and gun. 244 00:17:33,691 --> 00:17:37,152 We went camping, we go hiking, we go rafting. 245 00:17:38,527 --> 00:17:39,573 You know? 246 00:17:40,461 --> 00:17:43,728 I had to go Montana, buy my dad a fishing pole, 247 00:17:43,777 --> 00:17:46,159 take him down to a river that didn't even have a fish in it 248 00:17:46,450 --> 00:17:49,234 to get a picture of him with a fishing pole, with me. 249 00:17:50,843 --> 00:17:52,554 I mean that - 250 00:17:56,226 --> 00:17:57,226 you know? 251 00:17:58,144 --> 00:17:59,230 And you know what he said? 252 00:17:59,279 --> 00:18:00,980 I reminded him of that not too long 253 00:18:01,029 --> 00:18:02,323 ago and you know what he told me? 254 00:18:02,632 --> 00:18:04,109 'I never been much of a fisherman.' 255 00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:09,527 I don't give a shit if he ever fished a day in his life. 256 00:18:09,566 --> 00:18:12,050 Teach your damn kids to fish. You know? 257 00:18:18,605 --> 00:18:20,636 I still don't know him the way most 258 00:18:20,685 --> 00:18:22,034 kids should know their father. 259 00:18:23,708 --> 00:18:26,292 You could sit here and tell me that my dad was a good guy 260 00:18:26,341 --> 00:18:28,488 and he's just trying to make a living and providing. 261 00:18:28,746 --> 00:18:30,366 You know whatever the case may be. 262 00:18:32,616 --> 00:18:35,382 But none of that stuff ever registered to me. 263 00:18:35,769 --> 00:18:36,769 Hut. 264 00:18:38,744 --> 00:18:40,401 I think some of the things I did back then 265 00:18:40,450 --> 00:18:42,249 was basically to try to get his attention. 266 00:18:45,234 --> 00:18:49,195 The way Lance dealt was 'I'll just turn into a little jerk.' 267 00:18:50,460 --> 00:18:52,804 You know? Because now I'm pissed off at the entire world. 268 00:18:53,401 --> 00:18:55,073 I'm mad at mom, I'm mad at dad. 269 00:18:56,307 --> 00:18:57,557 I'm mad at life. 270 00:18:59,128 --> 00:19:01,190 Hut. Hut. 271 00:19:01,914 --> 00:19:04,885 Rebel is an understatement. I went crazy. 272 00:19:05,167 --> 00:19:07,784 Doing stuff no parent would brag about their kid doing. 273 00:19:08,976 --> 00:19:11,135 Come on, Hut, Hut. 274 00:19:12,050 --> 00:19:16,460 There was many weekends I’d get put in jail for minor consuming. 275 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:18,214 Drunk in public. 276 00:19:19,788 --> 00:19:21,796 I can get in trouble and moms going to bail me out. 277 00:19:22,534 --> 00:19:26,205 I'll never forget one time they called her and she's like 278 00:19:26,464 --> 00:19:29,557 'Let him sit there. I can't take off work. I'll be 279 00:19:29,606 --> 00:19:31,534 there if I can get there, when I can get there.' 280 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,424 And they come back and they told me that. 281 00:19:34,973 --> 00:19:36,827 'Sorry, you ain't leaving today.' 282 00:19:37,713 --> 00:19:38,752 'What?' 283 00:19:38,901 --> 00:19:40,573 'Your mom said she ain't coming.' 284 00:19:40,729 --> 00:19:42,955 And I'm like 'Bullshit. Mom's coming to get me. 285 00:19:42,995 --> 00:19:44,002 She always does.' 286 00:19:44,421 --> 00:19:46,101 'Not this time boy.' You know? 287 00:19:47,994 --> 00:19:52,554 Three or four attempts at high school and still a freshman. 288 00:19:54,301 --> 00:19:55,948 My mom knew that there was something 289 00:19:55,997 --> 00:19:57,494 going on. Didn't know exactly what. 290 00:19:57,543 --> 00:19:59,335 So she put me in a drug rehab. 291 00:20:00,112 --> 00:20:04,101 And the drug rehab kicked me out. 292 00:20:10,143 --> 00:20:17,399 Hut. Yep, yep. Come on here. Hut. Yep. 293 00:20:18,772 --> 00:20:19,772 Get up. 294 00:20:25,250 --> 00:20:26,266 Good to see you man. 295 00:20:26,315 --> 00:20:27,329 Good to see you. 296 00:20:27,915 --> 00:20:29,094 Win yourself some gold? 297 00:20:30,009 --> 00:20:32,149 Yeah. This is worth the effort I think. 298 00:20:33,353 --> 00:20:35,554 You know the dogs deserve it more than I do. 299 00:20:38,353 --> 00:20:43,194 Holy cow. He's been in here about four 300 00:20:43,243 --> 00:20:46,663 hours now. He's still trying to perform 301 00:20:46,712 --> 00:20:48,952 but he was just- come here. 302 00:20:50,827 --> 00:20:54,101 He wasn't so enthused about this whole mess. 303 00:20:55,898 --> 00:20:58,538 I think maybe just a good meal, a good rest 304 00:20:59,279 --> 00:21:03,218 and he might just be a whole different dog again. 305 00:21:04,155 --> 00:21:05,726 You're not sure about this stuff are ya? 306 00:21:10,249 --> 00:21:13,491 I got to run this team according to what it's capable of doing. 307 00:21:13,531 --> 00:21:15,624 Not worry about what's going on behind me. 308 00:21:16,578 --> 00:21:18,905 And if I happen to get to Nome and 309 00:21:18,954 --> 00:21:21,741 there's nobody in front of me? I won. 310 00:21:22,914 --> 00:21:25,241 Lance congratulations on being the first to 311 00:21:25,290 --> 00:21:27,351 reach the halfway point on the 2013 Iditarod. 312 00:21:28,007 --> 00:21:32,007 On behalf of GCI and Iditarod committee it's my pleasure to 313 00:21:32,056 --> 00:21:37,351 present you with this year's $3000 worth of gold nuggets. 314 00:21:37,609 --> 00:21:41,116 In addition to the gold nuggets you'll get to keep this trophy. 315 00:21:41,547 --> 00:21:45,583 And we will also add your name to the permanent halfway 316 00:21:45,632 --> 00:21:48,796 point winners list which is in the Iditarod gallery. 317 00:21:49,562 --> 00:21:50,562 So- 318 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:53,030 Making sure you got it all out of there. 319 00:21:54,515 --> 00:21:57,569 You get to take it home. Congratulations. 320 00:21:57,618 --> 00:22:00,007 That's awesome. Thank you. 321 00:22:00,632 --> 00:22:02,312 Much as I'd love to stand around and count 322 00:22:02,361 --> 00:22:04,163 them I'm going to leave that up to you. 323 00:22:04,212 --> 00:22:07,023 I'm going to take a little, I don't know, catnap. 324 00:22:09,125 --> 00:22:11,109 We'll see you gentleman shortly. 325 00:22:11,158 --> 00:22:12,158 You earned it. 326 00:22:12,207 --> 00:22:13,210 Thank you much. 327 00:22:13,242 --> 00:22:15,088 - Good luck the rest of the way. - See you soon 328 00:22:15,137 --> 00:22:16,159 Good night lance. 329 00:22:16,781 --> 00:22:19,421 I've only slept one hour since the starting line. 330 00:22:22,023 --> 00:22:23,952 I don't know how people do this shit every year. 331 00:22:25,273 --> 00:22:26,921 Oh, that feels so good. 332 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:33,507 Yep. Haw. Haw. 333 00:22:37,328 --> 00:22:39,944 That's it. Alright. Alright. 334 00:22:41,351 --> 00:22:44,640 Thatta boys'. Good job guys. 335 00:22:47,114 --> 00:22:51,351 Good boys. Good boys. 336 00:22:56,812 --> 00:22:59,252 There. Mmm. Look at that. 337 00:23:00,453 --> 00:23:01,919 Oh, that looks good. 338 00:23:03,859 --> 00:23:05,392 How about you Reverend? 339 00:23:17,429 --> 00:23:18,538 Who you want to win? 340 00:23:19,468 --> 00:23:20,523 Who you want to win? 341 00:23:20,843 --> 00:23:22,148 I thought you were going to win. 342 00:23:22,249 --> 00:23:23,657 That's a good answer. 343 00:23:49,929 --> 00:23:51,866 Oh yeah. Nice. 344 00:24:16,085 --> 00:24:17,914 They stopped more on that run. 345 00:24:17,976 --> 00:24:20,484 And I stopped the whole damn race combined. 346 00:24:22,226 --> 00:24:23,710 Okay. Good enough for me. 347 00:24:27,398 --> 00:24:29,065 I drop a dog in Iditarod. 348 00:24:29,828 --> 00:24:34,280 And when I leave he's the only one barking and screaming to go. 349 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:36,882 Everybody else was just, you know, 350 00:24:36,931 --> 00:24:38,304 got up and we marched out of there. 351 00:24:38,353 --> 00:24:39,359 Yeah. 352 00:24:39,414 --> 00:24:40,819 I had to- before I even left I went 353 00:24:40,868 --> 00:24:42,554 over and said goodbye to him again. 354 00:24:42,611 --> 00:24:43,796 Just I'm sorry. 355 00:24:43,845 --> 00:24:45,734 You're the one that told me you wanted to stay. 356 00:24:46,054 --> 00:24:47,804 Now you're tel- you know? You're here. 357 00:24:47,851 --> 00:24:49,382 Now you're telling me you want to go. 358 00:24:49,406 --> 00:24:51,210 Yeah. Racing anxiety. 359 00:24:51,257 --> 00:24:53,999 I was - he stood up the whole time. 360 00:24:54,069 --> 00:24:55,452 From the time I dropped him, until 361 00:24:55,501 --> 00:24:56,952 the time I left. He never laid down. 362 00:24:59,171 --> 00:25:00,569 I felt so bad. 363 00:25:01,117 --> 00:25:02,317 What was his name? 364 00:25:02,343 --> 00:25:03,343 Doug. 365 00:25:05,065 --> 00:25:07,332 Oh man. Get some sleep if you can. 366 00:25:07,503 --> 00:25:08,503 I don't know. 367 00:25:09,221 --> 00:25:11,135 I don't think I'll be here long enough to sleep. 368 00:26:15,416 --> 00:26:19,799 When I was 15 mom was frustrated and over her head on what to do. 369 00:26:19,848 --> 00:26:22,276 So she thought it would be a great idea to 370 00:26:22,325 --> 00:26:24,869 send me to my dad's truck stop in Coldfoot. 371 00:26:25,878 --> 00:26:27,869 Coldfoot is 65 miles above the 372 00:26:27,918 --> 00:26:30,026 Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway. 373 00:26:30,143 --> 00:26:32,846 And its claim to fame is the Northern 374 00:26:32,895 --> 00:26:34,455 Most Truck Stop in the World. 375 00:26:36,643 --> 00:26:39,577 I had driven all the way up from Wasilla to 376 00:26:39,626 --> 00:26:42,252 distribute these bear proof garbage cans. 377 00:26:43,167 --> 00:26:46,377 I said 'You can't even get a cup of coffee on this road.' 378 00:26:48,698 --> 00:26:53,682 A friend of mine owned a school bus made into a kitchen. 379 00:26:54,721 --> 00:26:55,721 And I said 380 00:26:57,003 --> 00:26:59,305 'What do you think if we was to take 381 00:26:59,354 --> 00:27:01,953 that school bus of yours and go up 382 00:27:02,002 --> 00:27:04,582 there and we just sell hot dogs, and 383 00:27:04,631 --> 00:27:06,299 soup and whatever for the summer?' 384 00:27:07,342 --> 00:27:09,932 and we pulled in there just dead tired. 385 00:27:10,034 --> 00:27:11,152 Got a few hours' sleep. 386 00:27:11,201 --> 00:27:12,705 Woke up the next morning and there was 387 00:27:12,754 --> 00:27:15,619 100 trucks parked in that gravel pit. 388 00:27:15,659 --> 00:27:17,701 Wanted to know when they could get something to eat. 389 00:27:18,940 --> 00:27:21,111 And I went 'Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.' 390 00:27:21,315 --> 00:27:22,604 And we were off and running. 391 00:27:22,917 --> 00:27:24,680 We developed a little town. 392 00:27:24,729 --> 00:27:27,346 We had a post office. We had a store. 393 00:27:27,393 --> 00:27:31,291 We had a bar. We had overnight facilities. 394 00:27:31,370 --> 00:27:34,770 Not to mention a restaurant for truckers and etc. 395 00:27:37,768 --> 00:27:40,924 By the time I got up there it was still a work in process. 396 00:27:41,448 --> 00:27:43,330 He's right in the middle of building a business 397 00:27:45,454 --> 00:27:47,986 with 50 employees or however many he had. 398 00:27:48,589 --> 00:27:50,424 And all of a sudden he's got to be a dad. 399 00:27:51,784 --> 00:27:54,384 No, I was more like another employee. 400 00:27:57,697 --> 00:27:59,541 500 trucks through there a day. 401 00:28:00,432 --> 00:28:04,549 I learned a lot of things but I was also unguided. 402 00:28:04,909 --> 00:28:06,846 I'd do whatever I want pretty much. 403 00:28:07,753 --> 00:28:10,721 When you're trying to build something like Coldfoot, 404 00:28:11,026 --> 00:28:13,393 you know, it's 24/7. 405 00:28:13,479 --> 00:28:14,596 You're just going 406 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,236 And so as long as we were under the radar we were golden. 407 00:28:19,995 --> 00:28:23,080 I would go out with a bucket of water and a squeegee when 408 00:28:23,129 --> 00:28:25,932 they pulled in and washed their windows and their lights. 409 00:28:26,323 --> 00:28:28,354 And I found out which one would give me a Bud. 410 00:28:28,728 --> 00:28:30,322 Or something else. 411 00:28:31,190 --> 00:28:32,964 Pretty soon I'm spending all my money doing 412 00:28:33,013 --> 00:28:36,127 the same shit that I was doing in Wasilla. 413 00:28:36,182 --> 00:28:37,709 Just took me a little longer to figure 414 00:28:37,758 --> 00:28:39,643 this whole system out. You know? 415 00:28:41,385 --> 00:28:44,486 Dad was just getting into the tour companies running up there. 416 00:28:44,956 --> 00:28:49,906 And I remember him offering me a job as a baggage 417 00:28:49,955 --> 00:28:53,440 carrier for the tourists coming off the buses. 418 00:28:56,034 --> 00:28:57,135 Are you kidding me? 419 00:28:57,799 --> 00:28:59,205 I would never do that. You know? 420 00:29:00,964 --> 00:29:03,080 I'm a carpenter, I'm this, I'm that. 421 00:29:03,129 --> 00:29:05,361 But I'm not a baggage bus boy. 422 00:29:06,442 --> 00:29:08,143 He just kind of looked at me like 'I'm 423 00:29:08,192 --> 00:29:10,223 handing you a start to a goldmine. 424 00:29:10,674 --> 00:29:11,986 This could all be yours.' 425 00:29:14,096 --> 00:29:17,851 And I just gave him the bird and packed my shit and left. 426 00:29:25,643 --> 00:29:32,776 [music] 427 00:30:06,307 --> 00:30:10,033 Hut. Hey. Hey. 428 00:30:11,174 --> 00:30:14,674 That's it. Good boys. Alright. 429 00:30:17,784 --> 00:30:18,784 That's it. 430 00:30:20,713 --> 00:30:21,713 Good job guys. 431 00:30:29,751 --> 00:30:31,088 How many dogs we got? 432 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,026 Not enough. 11. 433 00:30:34,669 --> 00:30:37,286 My run from Eagle Island up to Kaltag 434 00:30:37,335 --> 00:30:39,622 was as slow as I've ever done. 435 00:30:41,651 --> 00:30:45,283 And for whatever reason it's the speed they want to go now. 436 00:30:49,674 --> 00:30:51,932 What do you say boy? Hmm? 437 00:30:52,128 --> 00:30:55,002 I've been breathing cold air on an exposed tooth. 438 00:30:55,253 --> 00:30:57,510 I was eating fudge and it had nuts in it. 439 00:30:57,987 --> 00:31:00,212 Not the most pleasant feeling. 440 00:31:00,878 --> 00:31:01,994 At least I saved my tooth. 441 00:31:02,087 --> 00:31:03,594 Almost swallowed the damn thing. 442 00:31:07,175 --> 00:31:09,690 I've been dealing with my teeth for years now. 443 00:31:10,167 --> 00:31:12,627 Oh, pretty hard to get to a dentist at the moment. 444 00:31:13,901 --> 00:31:19,994 I just need some Advil and a tall Crown Royal. 445 00:31:20,783 --> 00:31:22,056 Okay. That will work. 446 00:31:25,229 --> 00:31:29,353 Ah, everything feels so good. I don't know what to tell ya. 447 00:31:29,525 --> 00:31:31,783 I'm sure it probably does. 448 00:31:31,838 --> 00:31:36,400 Just take one tablet by mouth six to eight hours. 449 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:37,720 Thank you. 450 00:31:38,228 --> 00:31:42,028 My teeth are falling out. My toes black with frostbite. 451 00:32:01,533 --> 00:32:03,876 Lance? Stu's on the phone upstairs. 452 00:32:03,963 --> 00:32:05,861 He said he had something to talk to you about. 453 00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:06,931 Who? 454 00:32:06,963 --> 00:32:07,963 Stu. 455 00:32:08,322 --> 00:32:09,392 About my other dog? 456 00:32:09,455 --> 00:32:11,251 I don't know. You'll have to call him. 457 00:32:40,877 --> 00:32:43,541 Hello Stu? This is Leslie from Kaltag. Is this you? 458 00:32:45,033 --> 00:32:48,260 I have Lance here. Could you take the call please? 459 00:32:54,213 --> 00:32:55,478 Doc, how you doin? 460 00:32:58,205 --> 00:33:00,072 Yes sir. Tell me the news. 461 00:33:11,434 --> 00:33:12,759 Oh boy. 462 00:33:18,438 --> 00:33:19,438 Are you there? 463 00:33:20,213 --> 00:33:21,213 Hello? 464 00:33:24,713 --> 00:33:25,713 Lost him. 465 00:33:28,352 --> 00:33:31,306 Okay. Well he's alive but barely. 466 00:33:32,322 --> 00:33:33,548 He has an ulcer. 467 00:33:35,900 --> 00:33:37,400 He lost a lot of blood. 468 00:34:47,330 --> 00:34:48,863 There you go precious. 469 00:34:52,416 --> 00:34:54,908 Can you show them how it's done Rev? Hmm? 470 00:35:05,321 --> 00:35:06,321 Alright. 471 00:35:10,314 --> 00:35:11,767 Hut, come on there. Hut. 472 00:35:14,236 --> 00:35:15,267 Thatta boy. 473 00:35:18,775 --> 00:35:19,775 Alright. 474 00:35:20,854 --> 00:35:21,854 Thatta boy. 475 00:35:24,009 --> 00:35:25,009 Alright. 476 00:35:59,471 --> 00:36:02,871 When I left my dad's truck stop in Cold Foot I was 477 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,487 pretty adamant about not going back to my mom's. 478 00:36:07,041 --> 00:36:09,455 I didn't have any money. None. 479 00:36:11,252 --> 00:36:12,314 I had nowhere to go. 480 00:36:16,971 --> 00:36:19,392 I ended up getting a job down in Kodiak. 481 00:36:21,338 --> 00:36:22,738 Working in a Cannery. 482 00:36:26,166 --> 00:36:27,751 My first real job. 483 00:36:32,729 --> 00:36:35,874 Kodiak was one of the biggest boom fishing 484 00:36:35,923 --> 00:36:37,908 towns in the state of Alaska at one time. 485 00:36:38,971 --> 00:36:41,314 And yeah, there was millions of dollars coming 486 00:36:41,363 --> 00:36:43,197 in and out of there in months at a time. 487 00:36:47,143 --> 00:36:50,072 I ended up getting a job on the boat they called The Mariah. 488 00:36:51,275 --> 00:36:52,955 I'll never forget getting out in the middle 489 00:36:53,004 --> 00:36:54,441 of the Bering Sea when it's pitch 490 00:36:54,504 --> 00:36:56,129 black in the middle of June. 491 00:36:56,424 --> 00:36:57,613 You can hear the wind. 492 00:37:00,598 --> 00:37:01,918 There's a snow squall. 493 00:37:02,738 --> 00:37:04,543 The seas about 35 feet. 494 00:37:05,105 --> 00:37:06,675 We're not getting a whole lot of sleep. 495 00:37:07,761 --> 00:37:10,043 We are getting our asses handed to us. 496 00:37:11,879 --> 00:37:14,410 I went up by the wheelhouse where nobody else could see me. 497 00:37:14,459 --> 00:37:18,824 Out in the blunt of the storm. I knew I was dying. 498 00:37:19,332 --> 00:37:20,613 I wasn't coming home. 499 00:37:21,004 --> 00:37:22,347 And I sat there and cried. 500 00:37:24,215 --> 00:37:27,107 I got my shit together and I went back down, 501 00:37:27,676 --> 00:37:31,990 finished out the trip and I made like $5500 bucks that month. 502 00:37:33,267 --> 00:37:34,372 I was rich. 503 00:37:34,957 --> 00:37:38,597 Holy shit. $5500 bucks? For a month? 504 00:37:39,668 --> 00:37:42,629 Oh, I forgot all about how miserable it was. 505 00:37:42,692 --> 00:37:44,949 And how cold it was. And how tired and how hungry. 506 00:37:45,504 --> 00:37:48,270 Oh, buddy. I'm going back now. 507 00:37:51,739 --> 00:37:54,129 I could hardly get a dishwashing job but now I could 508 00:37:54,178 --> 00:37:57,066 go and make $50,000-$60,000 grand in no time? 509 00:37:59,684 --> 00:38:02,080 Then it was also justifiable to come back to town 510 00:38:02,129 --> 00:38:04,651 for three days and spend $2000 bucks partying. 511 00:38:05,581 --> 00:38:06,965 I was hooked right there. 512 00:38:11,035 --> 00:38:13,574 It got worse and worse with the more money I made. 513 00:38:13,623 --> 00:38:15,480 And the more people I met. 514 00:38:17,742 --> 00:38:21,938 It wasn't a healthy lifestyle. 515 00:38:34,673 --> 00:38:35,673 How you doing? 516 00:38:38,883 --> 00:38:40,227 What you think Big Al? 517 00:38:40,822 --> 00:38:41,822 There you go. 518 00:38:44,150 --> 00:38:45,501 You a handsome boy, huh? 519 00:38:45,610 --> 00:38:47,821 You a handsome boy. Yeah. 520 00:38:48,994 --> 00:38:51,060 That's nice. Hold on a second. 521 00:38:53,540 --> 00:38:55,873 Much easier if you do it yourself. 522 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:02,610 He just wanted some company. 523 00:39:04,758 --> 00:39:07,109 When I got here Larry asked me if I wanted a piece of it. 524 00:39:07,158 --> 00:39:09,414 I didn't know he was going to go make them bring it down. 525 00:39:09,705 --> 00:39:11,563 Oh yeah. Just came out of the oven. 526 00:39:11,759 --> 00:39:12,759 Oh, it's hot. 527 00:39:14,064 --> 00:39:15,970 Doesn't get any better than that right there. 528 00:39:16,025 --> 00:39:18,774 I'm not sure how many people got pizza brought to them. 529 00:39:19,150 --> 00:39:22,157 It's been a Hell of a welcoming committee everywhere I go. 530 00:39:22,595 --> 00:39:25,149 You're biggest fan here has got a surprise for you. 531 00:39:25,345 --> 00:39:26,345 Moose jerky. 532 00:39:26,394 --> 00:39:27,461 Oh, look at you. 533 00:39:27,501 --> 00:39:28,701 And smoked salmon. 534 00:39:29,009 --> 00:39:30,610 Thank you. 535 00:39:31,111 --> 00:39:33,649 We're twins. You're missing the same tooth I am. 536 00:39:40,712 --> 00:39:42,227 I don’t have many teeth as it is. 537 00:39:42,290 --> 00:39:44,313 It sure sucks not having another one. 538 00:39:49,736 --> 00:39:51,923 Maybe I should just go have a liquid diet. 539 00:39:54,697 --> 00:39:57,220 That would take care of my tooth problem wouldn't it? 540 00:40:36,283 --> 00:40:37,546 You're almost there. 541 00:40:38,009 --> 00:40:39,892 It's been the slowest trip ever. 542 00:40:39,941 --> 00:40:40,941 Yeah. 543 00:40:40,970 --> 00:40:44,610 I mean speed wise. 544 00:40:44,659 --> 00:40:46,009 I mean I don't know if we're still 545 00:40:46,058 --> 00:40:50,134 on day 9 or something at the moment. 546 00:41:00,955 --> 00:41:02,165 There you go. 547 00:41:09,822 --> 00:41:11,288 I bet you go to sleep. 548 00:42:02,586 --> 00:42:05,132 I ended up meeting this gal, Tonya. 549 00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:08,665 We were both on a dead end street 550 00:42:08,688 --> 00:42:10,907 with dead end relationships. 551 00:42:12,673 --> 00:42:14,329 She had three small kids. 552 00:42:16,446 --> 00:42:19,040 I needed somebody to help me straighten out my life. 553 00:42:19,782 --> 00:42:22,680 She needed to have a father figure around for the girls. 554 00:42:23,899 --> 00:42:25,352 We felt we could help each other. 555 00:42:32,032 --> 00:42:33,625 Three months later we got married. 556 00:42:36,074 --> 00:42:37,926 We're starting over. Let's start over somewhere 557 00:42:37,975 --> 00:42:39,801 completely different where we know nobody. 558 00:42:41,228 --> 00:42:43,399 Not a clue in what the hell was going to happen, 559 00:42:43,855 --> 00:42:45,446 how we was going to make it even happen. 560 00:42:45,547 --> 00:42:47,391 We're going to drive until we're out of money. 561 00:42:47,446 --> 00:42:49,211 To a place where we don't know anybody. 562 00:42:50,523 --> 00:42:52,102 That took us to the Kenai Peninsula. 563 00:42:53,199 --> 00:42:55,577 We set up camp. We made a big - 564 00:42:55,923 --> 00:42:57,571 more or less a house out of blue tarps. 565 00:42:57,626 --> 00:42:59,758 Put the tent inside the blue tarp. 566 00:43:00,063 --> 00:43:02,960 Found an old couch, an old piece of carpet at the dump. 567 00:43:04,282 --> 00:43:07,147 Every single day we'd build a campfire. 568 00:43:07,389 --> 00:43:08,538 That was how we cooked. 569 00:43:10,306 --> 00:43:13,086 But it was going into winter. 570 00:43:13,556 --> 00:43:16,181 It was getting kind of cold. We don't really have nowhere to go. 571 00:43:16,230 --> 00:43:18,127 We damn sure ain't staying in a tent all winter. 572 00:43:19,431 --> 00:43:20,805 I didn't have a chainsaw. 573 00:43:21,001 --> 00:43:23,508 I didn't have a nail or hammer, nothing like that. 574 00:43:24,009 --> 00:43:25,172 But I had a handsaw. 575 00:43:26,287 --> 00:43:29,029 And I went over and started cutting trees down by hand. 576 00:43:30,068 --> 00:43:31,482 We're building a house right here. 577 00:43:32,177 --> 00:43:33,584 Not sure exactly what kind of house. 578 00:43:33,633 --> 00:43:35,729 But we're going to have it right here. We're going to 579 00:43:35,778 --> 00:43:37,466 use these stumps as part of the foundation. 580 00:43:37,670 --> 00:43:38,670 I'm hustling. 581 00:43:38,826 --> 00:43:42,060 Anything and everything I possibly can for a $20 bill. 582 00:43:43,332 --> 00:43:45,287 I just stuffed the walls full of old 583 00:43:45,336 --> 00:43:47,521 clothes that we got at Salvation Army. 584 00:43:48,389 --> 00:43:50,201 I'd stop at the dumpster every single day. 585 00:43:50,570 --> 00:43:53,498 I found a wood stove, I found tires. 586 00:43:53,545 --> 00:43:55,396 I mean all kinds of things I could use. 587 00:43:56,079 --> 00:43:57,451 Things were just flowing together. 588 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,349 Well, then I got this harebrained idea. 589 00:44:01,568 --> 00:44:04,334 'Man, I'm going to have to get a couple of dogs again.' 590 00:44:05,732 --> 00:44:07,904 It seemed like maybe a matter of a week 591 00:44:08,537 --> 00:44:10,638 and I had 2, 3 dogs in the backyard. 592 00:44:11,256 --> 00:44:13,826 Next thing I know I have 20 dogs now. 593 00:44:14,881 --> 00:44:16,841 The dogs I got were all leftovers. 594 00:44:17,037 --> 00:44:19,529 Dogs that came from the pound and off the streets. 595 00:44:19,912 --> 00:44:23,107 Misfit dogs that nobody else wanted. 596 00:44:23,781 --> 00:44:26,380 It was stupid cause we're barely feeding ourselves. 597 00:44:27,914 --> 00:44:29,662 That winter there was a little local 598 00:44:29,711 --> 00:44:32,630 sprint race track on the peninsula. 599 00:44:33,795 --> 00:44:36,607 The first time I went down there the people in the neighborhood 600 00:44:36,656 --> 00:44:40,279 said 'Man this is one of the most jalopy teams I ever seen.' 601 00:44:41,672 --> 00:44:44,334 I had all their rejects and I ended up beating them. 602 00:44:45,877 --> 00:44:48,576 I was back the next weekend, and the following weekend. 603 00:44:48,625 --> 00:44:50,146 And I raced every weekend. 604 00:44:51,139 --> 00:44:52,740 I told Tonya one day 605 00:44:54,148 --> 00:44:56,060 'I'm going to run the Iditarod next year.' 606 00:44:56,897 --> 00:44:59,990 This is the start of Iditarod 29. 607 00:45:01,583 --> 00:45:05,357 Lance Mackey on his way to gold. 608 00:45:09,904 --> 00:45:13,865 The first 20 years of my life I put my parents through hell. 609 00:45:16,621 --> 00:45:18,615 I finally realized that life's too damn short 610 00:45:18,664 --> 00:45:20,216 to be screwing up. 611 00:45:21,351 --> 00:45:24,576 I want my dad and my mom to be proud of the things I'm doing. 612 00:45:25,274 --> 00:45:27,807 And not be ashamed and disappointed. 613 00:45:30,098 --> 00:45:31,263 They called me from McGrath. 614 00:45:32,490 --> 00:45:34,701 and man he was on top of the world. 615 00:45:34,904 --> 00:45:37,763 'Mom, I am having such a good time at -' you know. 616 00:45:37,812 --> 00:45:38,995 On and on and on. 617 00:45:40,045 --> 00:45:41,873 Just everything was good. 618 00:45:51,006 --> 00:45:52,841 He got to Kaltag and he called me again. 619 00:45:54,436 --> 00:45:58,427 And he said 'I don't know. 620 00:45:59,013 --> 00:46:00,716 I don't know if I'm even going to make it.' 621 00:46:06,717 --> 00:46:09,247 I remember going from Kaltag to Unalakleet. 622 00:46:10,499 --> 00:46:14,763 And I heard these wolves behind me. 623 00:46:16,958 --> 00:46:20,200 Yep. Hut. Hut. No. No. 624 00:46:20,310 --> 00:46:21,856 Maybe I was hallucinating I don't know. 625 00:46:21,888 --> 00:46:23,688 Cause I never did see them. I remember turning 626 00:46:23,737 --> 00:46:25,825 around real fast. 627 00:46:26,982 --> 00:46:29,747 My eyes went dark and I hit the deck basically. 628 00:46:31,121 --> 00:46:33,122 I didn't know exactly what had happened but 629 00:46:33,458 --> 00:46:34,747 I was not feeling right. 630 00:46:36,638 --> 00:46:42,052 Since he was a little, little boy never ever complained. 631 00:46:42,966 --> 00:46:45,372 He had strep throat one time with a 105 fever. 632 00:46:46,161 --> 00:46:49,473 'How do you feel Lance?' 'Fine.' I knew something was up. 633 00:46:50,910 --> 00:46:52,731 Prior to going into the race 634 00:46:53,638 --> 00:46:55,302 I had this little lump on my throat. 635 00:46:56,248 --> 00:46:58,997 They kept telling me that I had this abscess tooth. 636 00:46:59,505 --> 00:47:01,098 Gave me some pain killers and some 637 00:47:01,147 --> 00:47:02,895 antibiotics and sent me on my way. 638 00:47:05,263 --> 00:47:08,614 As I continued to Nome things started growing rapidly. 639 00:47:09,500 --> 00:47:11,677 It went from the size of pea to the size of 640 00:47:11,726 --> 00:47:14,286 softball in just a short couple of weeks. 641 00:47:21,701 --> 00:47:24,841 But I pushed on and I made it to Nome with 642 00:47:25,333 --> 00:47:27,075 with this thing growing in my throat. 643 00:47:27,124 --> 00:47:29,567 Not knowing that it was ultimately cancer. 644 00:47:35,289 --> 00:47:37,919 The doctor he just looked at me and said 'Lance I'm sorry. 645 00:47:40,029 --> 00:47:42,536 And I am telling you straight up, it's serious.' 646 00:47:45,604 --> 00:47:48,325 There was really a slim chance that I would pull through this. 647 00:47:48,374 --> 00:47:50,192 It was wrapped around some of the main things. 648 00:47:50,232 --> 00:47:52,044 Cutting of the circulation to my brain. 649 00:47:54,146 --> 00:47:56,510 You know, I mean every time I turned around they 650 00:47:56,559 --> 00:47:58,389 might as well have been talking Japanese cause 651 00:47:59,278 --> 00:48:00,684 I wasn't understanding these terms. 652 00:48:00,733 --> 00:48:03,020 And all the things that they said was not going to happen. 653 00:48:03,068 --> 00:48:04,997 Or the things they said I wouldn't be able to do. 654 00:48:05,286 --> 00:48:07,052 You know? I wouldn't ever race dogs again. 655 00:48:07,107 --> 00:48:09,059 I probably wouldn't have any use of my right arm. 656 00:48:09,396 --> 00:48:13,816 I could be mentally challenged afterwards 657 00:48:13,865 --> 00:48:15,716 because of the whole operation. 658 00:48:16,161 --> 00:48:18,466 I mean all these different things were just like, 659 00:48:19,126 --> 00:48:20,708 phew, right over my head. 660 00:48:28,810 --> 00:48:31,895 Family and friends all got together at his moms house. 661 00:48:33,566 --> 00:48:35,356 Trying to be cheerful you know? 662 00:48:35,779 --> 00:48:39,700 But it was a pretty tense evening. 663 00:48:45,005 --> 00:48:46,139 That was awful. 664 00:48:56,130 --> 00:48:59,044 I just gave him a great big hug. 665 00:48:59,638 --> 00:49:00,669 We all just kind of 666 00:49:01,271 --> 00:49:03,122 went through the motions until 667 00:49:04,076 --> 00:49:06,476 it was time to go to the hospital. 668 00:49:16,341 --> 00:49:18,028 Nothing ever really sank in 669 00:49:18,896 --> 00:49:21,184 until I was laying on that hospital bed 670 00:49:22,091 --> 00:49:24,723 just fixing to go into the doors to go surgery. 671 00:49:25,802 --> 00:49:27,778 And they said 672 00:49:28,646 --> 00:49:30,255 'You need to say goodbye to your family.' 673 00:49:33,382 --> 00:49:37,115 And, I mean I remember just starting to cry profusely. 674 00:49:37,747 --> 00:49:39,419 Cause now all of sudden it made sense 675 00:49:39,468 --> 00:49:41,161 that I might not be coming out of this. 676 00:49:55,630 --> 00:49:59,192 The doctor finally came out and said 677 00:50:00,169 --> 00:50:02,239 he looked me right in the eye and he said 678 00:50:03,177 --> 00:50:06,356 'Well he ain't pretty but I got it all.' 679 00:50:12,990 --> 00:50:14,456 Yep, that was relief. 680 00:50:24,591 --> 00:50:27,411 The dogs, they absolutely knew that I was sick. 681 00:50:28,495 --> 00:50:30,364 I missed them and I needed them. 682 00:50:32,201 --> 00:50:35,395 On the weekends my wife and my kids would come to see me, 683 00:50:35,865 --> 00:50:37,919 they would sneak a dog or two into the hospital. 684 00:50:38,747 --> 00:50:40,723 The first time it happened I cried. 685 00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:43,341 Then I couldn't wait for it to happen again. 686 00:50:43,654 --> 00:50:45,614 And I cried even harder the second time. 687 00:50:48,700 --> 00:50:49,880 The radiation treatments they 688 00:50:49,919 --> 00:50:51,200 were fixing to give me were gonna 689 00:50:52,021 --> 00:50:54,442 not only kill the saliva glands but there would never 690 00:50:54,491 --> 00:50:57,622 be enough saliva produced for protection for my teeth. 691 00:50:57,958 --> 00:51:00,263 And inevitably they'd be rotten and falling out. 692 00:51:00,943 --> 00:51:02,770 Shit their only teeth. Take them. You know? 693 00:51:07,755 --> 00:51:09,822 Main artery showing in my neck- 694 00:51:09,871 --> 00:51:12,192 very, very vulnerable to scratches. 695 00:51:13,318 --> 00:51:14,380 They told me flat out 696 00:51:14,419 --> 00:51:16,748 'If you get a tree branch that pokes you 697 00:51:16,796 --> 00:51:19,395 in the neck and pops that open you're going to bleed to death. 698 00:51:19,997 --> 00:51:21,540 If you get a dog that jumps up on 699 00:51:21,589 --> 00:51:23,097 you, and scratches you with a toenail 700 00:51:23,146 --> 00:51:25,966 real bad, and pops that open? You're going to bleed to death.' 701 00:51:27,061 --> 00:51:28,325 I was warned. 702 00:51:28,521 --> 00:51:29,721 In fact I was told 703 00:51:30,115 --> 00:51:31,663 not to ever race dogs again because 704 00:51:31,685 --> 00:51:33,302 I'm setting myself up for, 705 00:51:34,074 --> 00:51:35,874 you know, death basically. 706 00:51:39,420 --> 00:51:40,553 But I'm stubborn. 707 00:51:41,474 --> 00:51:43,645 If I fall off my sled I'm going to have a smile 708 00:51:43,694 --> 00:51:45,684 on my face doing something I love to do. 709 00:51:46,521 --> 00:51:48,333 Don't tell me I can't run the Iditarod again, 710 00:51:48,382 --> 00:51:50,083 don't tell me I can't get up and walk now. 711 00:51:50,132 --> 00:51:51,333 Don't tell me I can't. 712 00:51:51,872 --> 00:51:52,872 No, I remember 713 00:51:54,029 --> 00:51:56,552 telling him, don't worry about the dogs' dude. I got the dogs. 714 00:51:58,240 --> 00:51:59,645 I'll take care of the dogs. 715 00:51:59,958 --> 00:52:02,059 And he wouldn't have no part of that. 716 00:52:02,224 --> 00:52:04,801 He was like 'No. I'm going to get 717 00:52:04,850 --> 00:52:06,036 out of this treatment today, 718 00:52:06,085 --> 00:52:07,377 and we're going to the peninsula, 719 00:52:07,426 --> 00:52:08,653 and I'm going to run dogs.' 720 00:52:13,932 --> 00:52:15,380 I thought he was an idiot. 721 00:52:15,482 --> 00:52:18,667 But I also knew that that was really 722 00:52:18,716 --> 00:52:20,396 the only thing keeping him going. 723 00:52:23,951 --> 00:52:25,284 The dogs needed me. 724 00:52:26,810 --> 00:52:28,708 And I needed them at the same time. 725 00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:34,809 When I was a little boy my dad said 'If you 726 00:52:34,858 --> 00:52:37,857 tip over you don't just let go. You hang on. 727 00:52:39,146 --> 00:52:41,223 There's going to be bumps and bruises along the way. 728 00:52:41,591 --> 00:52:43,497 If you fall off your sled you get 729 00:52:43,546 --> 00:52:45,973 up and get back on it. Keep going.' 730 00:52:50,050 --> 00:52:53,510 I drew bib number 13 in 1978. 731 00:52:54,120 --> 00:52:55,596 For the '78 race. 732 00:52:55,995 --> 00:52:57,917 It was my 6th attempt. 733 00:52:58,995 --> 00:53:02,417 Years later here comes Lance. 734 00:53:02,886 --> 00:53:05,901 Bib number 13. His 6th attempt. 735 00:53:07,269 --> 00:53:10,917 Lucky position number 13. Lance Mackey. 736 00:53:11,058 --> 00:53:12,932 I feel I'm indebted to my dogs. 737 00:53:14,175 --> 00:53:16,049 And I'm going to do my best to pay 738 00:53:16,098 --> 00:53:17,901 them back for changing my life. 739 00:53:18,753 --> 00:53:21,979 Lance Mackey on his way to Nome. 740 00:53:22,847 --> 00:53:25,049 I believe we got a second chance at life for a reason. 741 00:53:27,089 --> 00:53:28,422 This is the reason. 742 00:53:32,792 --> 00:53:33,792 Let's go. 743 00:53:52,808 --> 00:53:57,628 We barely got going and we had a major setback. 744 00:53:57,706 --> 00:53:59,870 Right down the creek. Right on the ice. 745 00:54:00,253 --> 00:54:01,331 Did he miss it again? 746 00:54:01,433 --> 00:54:03,667 Look at that ice. That's just nasty looking. 747 00:54:03,956 --> 00:54:05,689 That's a tough area there. 748 00:54:06,855 --> 00:54:09,104 On the second day of racing Lance broke 749 00:54:09,153 --> 00:54:11,901 the runner off the back of his sled. 750 00:54:13,058 --> 00:54:15,815 So basically he's on one runner, 751 00:54:16,276 --> 00:54:18,846 navigating some really dicey trail. 752 00:54:19,753 --> 00:54:21,049 That was a close call. 753 00:54:21,112 --> 00:54:23,594 Okay I'm imagining he's really 754 00:54:23,643 --> 00:54:25,198 thinking 'Man, I'm glad I made it.' 755 00:54:25,511 --> 00:54:27,120 That could have been dicey. 756 00:54:29,316 --> 00:54:32,385 He bounced like ricochet rabbit through the Dolsal Gorge. 757 00:54:32,542 --> 00:54:34,057 It's a notorious canyon. 758 00:54:35,386 --> 00:54:36,846 It was a hell of an accomplishment 759 00:54:36,895 --> 00:54:38,557 just making it with good equipment. 760 00:54:43,011 --> 00:54:44,906 When I saw the runner broken on his 761 00:54:44,955 --> 00:54:46,920 sled and him riding on one runner, 762 00:54:47,477 --> 00:54:51,203 I just went 'Oh, I'm so sorry Lance. 763 00:54:51,704 --> 00:54:53,156 I guess this ain't your year.' 764 00:54:53,196 --> 00:54:56,000 And I fully expected him to scratch. 765 00:54:56,180 --> 00:54:59,812 Because going down the Dolsal Gorge on one runner is asinine. 766 00:55:01,383 --> 00:55:02,650 One freakin runner. 767 00:55:05,250 --> 00:55:07,031 I had it all bolted into there. 768 00:55:07,094 --> 00:55:09,602 This is so - 769 00:55:13,860 --> 00:55:15,195 It was working pretty good. 770 00:55:15,250 --> 00:55:17,584 It actually held up by 2 ½ hours. 771 00:55:19,157 --> 00:55:21,094 See when I got it done I was making the joke 772 00:55:21,143 --> 00:55:23,375 'I don't need another sled. This will make it to Nome.' 773 00:55:24,305 --> 00:55:26,727 Right. Oh what a wreck. 774 00:55:27,094 --> 00:55:28,578 I imagine he's really going to be glad 775 00:55:28,627 --> 00:55:30,037 he got through here in the daylight. 776 00:55:30,086 --> 00:55:31,172 Oh yeah. 777 00:55:35,391 --> 00:55:38,015 That's it. Alright. Hut, hut. That a boy. 778 00:55:38,063 --> 00:55:40,951 When you leave Rohn for the next 90 miles these 779 00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:43,564 are the toughest miles that the race knows. 780 00:55:43,613 --> 00:55:44,851 I mean it's up and down. 781 00:55:44,900 --> 00:55:47,680 And it's ice, it's rocks, it's dirt. 782 00:55:47,846 --> 00:55:50,978 It's holes, it's tussocks. It's the fair well burn. 783 00:55:51,025 --> 00:55:52,025 It is hell. 784 00:55:53,197 --> 00:55:55,197 For him to go out there with one runner - people 785 00:55:55,246 --> 00:55:57,137 didn't know if he was going to get there safely. 786 00:55:59,257 --> 00:56:02,072 Oh man. I wiped out a couple times coming through the Dorsal. 787 00:56:02,541 --> 00:56:04,798 So just from that one runner. You know? There's no - 788 00:56:05,299 --> 00:56:08,679 you take a turn. You know how sometimes you power slide. 789 00:56:08,728 --> 00:56:11,861 And there's no runner there to keep it. Wham. 790 00:56:14,088 --> 00:56:15,861 I managed to make it to Nikolai. 791 00:56:15,924 --> 00:56:18,337 There was two sleds sitting there that belonged 792 00:56:18,386 --> 00:56:20,212 to people that had scratched in the race. 793 00:56:20,447 --> 00:56:23,611 One guy said 'Yeah, you can use my sled. $3000.' 794 00:56:24,307 --> 00:56:25,900 Well that wasn't going to work. 795 00:56:26,447 --> 00:56:29,439 The other person said flat out 'No, you're not using my sled.' 796 00:56:29,994 --> 00:56:33,103 I just realized right then and there that a lot of these people 797 00:56:33,152 --> 00:56:37,055 that I called my friends were nothing more than competition. 798 00:56:39,054 --> 00:56:41,900 We put the word out that I needed a sled and I 799 00:56:41,949 --> 00:56:43,823 had a sled waiting when I got into McGrath. 800 00:56:44,315 --> 00:56:48,713 Took me about 15 minutes is all to switch my sleds, 801 00:56:48,762 --> 00:56:51,822 snap the dogs, put a few booties on and head down the trail. 802 00:56:52,229 --> 00:56:53,229 Thanks guys. 803 00:56:54,338 --> 00:56:57,182 There's quite a bit of activity at this checkpoint tonight. 804 00:56:57,447 --> 00:56:59,633 Lance Mackey in here about 8:30. 805 00:56:59,682 --> 00:57:01,580 He switched out his sled, headed out. 806 00:57:02,088 --> 00:57:04,650 Lance Mackey, man is he ever moving good. 807 00:57:07,315 --> 00:57:10,250 That one in the lead, Larry, he's you 808 00:57:10,299 --> 00:57:11,791 know really the heart of the team. 809 00:57:12,042 --> 00:57:14,393 Larry's real serious, figures it out. 810 00:57:14,784 --> 00:57:15,885 Knows where they're going. 811 00:57:16,003 --> 00:57:18,025 Lance always said he's the brain of the team. 812 00:57:18,091 --> 00:57:20,322 He says Larry is smarter than he is. 813 00:57:22,956 --> 00:57:24,689 The dogs are exceptional. 814 00:57:25,268 --> 00:57:28,869 The only problem I have is keeping - taking care of myself. 815 00:57:29,143 --> 00:57:32,885 Look at that finger. Oh, it just kills me. 816 00:57:35,417 --> 00:57:38,350 He's had constant problems from radiation. 817 00:57:38,604 --> 00:57:40,041 Nerve damage. 818 00:57:41,104 --> 00:57:44,371 I mean how many people go from one doctor to the 819 00:57:44,420 --> 00:57:47,775 next bugging - begging to get a finger cut off? 820 00:57:49,322 --> 00:57:51,697 I had some side effects from the cancer. No doubt about it. 821 00:57:51,831 --> 00:57:53,541 And one of the main ones is the 822 00:57:53,590 --> 00:57:55,768 circulation in my toes and my fingers. 823 00:57:56,135 --> 00:57:58,229 My index finger on my left hand got 824 00:57:58,278 --> 00:58:00,400 to be very painful all the time. 825 00:58:00,470 --> 00:58:03,455 So I went to the doctor and I asked 826 00:58:03,504 --> 00:58:05,299 him if he could remove my finger. 827 00:58:06,354 --> 00:58:07,775 He said 'Well let me tell you what. 828 00:58:08,362 --> 00:58:10,135 You gotta think about this a second. It's 829 00:58:10,184 --> 00:58:11,932 not an octopus leg. It won't grow back. 830 00:58:12,018 --> 00:58:13,861 And once it's gone it's gone for good. 831 00:58:14,393 --> 00:58:15,932 You still want to do this?' I said 832 00:58:16,112 --> 00:58:17,635 'Chop it off' basically. 833 00:58:18,729 --> 00:58:21,799 Lance Mackey is now 40 minutes behind 834 00:58:21,892 --> 00:58:24,613 which is a lot different than we saw yesterday when 835 00:58:24,662 --> 00:58:27,658 we estimated he was like 2 1/2 -3 hours behind. 836 00:58:28,417 --> 00:58:33,369 Momentum and times have really changed in this 2007 Iditarod. 837 00:58:34,034 --> 00:58:35,388 He's really booking. 838 00:58:38,823 --> 00:58:43,229 It wasn't until after he left Unalakleet, 839 00:58:43,276 --> 00:58:46,479 or maybe even when he got to Shaktoolik to Koyuk that 840 00:58:46,732 --> 00:58:49,529 'Hey, he might pull this off. I gotta get there.' 841 00:58:49,608 --> 00:58:51,570 Here's a look at the actual leaderboard right now. 842 00:58:51,619 --> 00:58:53,635 Lance Mackey is on the attack. He's in first place. 843 00:58:53,776 --> 00:58:55,752 Lance Mackey going after it, huh? 844 00:58:55,917 --> 00:58:58,783 Lance Mackey, the leader of the Iditarod. 845 00:58:59,135 --> 00:59:00,672 Man is he ever moving good. 846 00:59:02,144 --> 00:59:03,601 He's really putting the hammer down. 847 00:59:03,650 --> 00:59:04,953 He isn't playing cat and mouse. 848 00:59:05,002 --> 00:59:07,869 He's just saying 'I'm going to take this race over.' 849 00:59:11,846 --> 00:59:13,744 The only thing that keeps really running through 850 00:59:13,793 --> 00:59:14,885 my head is my dad. 851 00:59:15,346 --> 00:59:17,261 I don't know anything else in the world 852 00:59:17,310 --> 00:59:18,995 that I could do to make him any more proud. 853 00:59:24,487 --> 00:59:28,065 I got to Cape Nome, which is 10 miles outside of Nome, 854 00:59:29,221 --> 00:59:30,775 up on this little mountain. 855 00:59:32,089 --> 00:59:34,924 And I knelt down in front of each one of them one at a time. 856 00:59:35,982 --> 00:59:39,346 And I just thanked them from the bottom of my heart. 857 00:59:39,838 --> 00:59:43,213 Told them how proud I was, what they were about to accomplish. 858 00:59:44,143 --> 00:59:46,572 I made it up to Larry, who was in the lead of course. 859 00:59:47,132 --> 00:59:48,986 He was the last one I talked to 860 00:59:49,035 --> 00:59:50,572 cause I had the most to say to him. 861 00:59:51,729 --> 00:59:53,529 And I looked him in the eye and I said 'Larry, 862 00:59:54,495 --> 00:59:57,682 I know you know where we're at. We've been here several times.' 863 00:59:58,510 --> 01:00:00,861 I said 'I don’t know if you realize 864 01:00:01,385 --> 01:00:03,424 that we're going to be here first this time.' 865 01:00:04,221 --> 01:00:08,455 Larry looked over at me and got this smirk on his face. 866 01:00:08,815 --> 01:00:12,377 Gave me kind of a one eye 'Yeah dad, I know.' 867 01:00:14,250 --> 01:00:16,055 His chest puffed out. 868 01:00:16,717 --> 01:00:20,648 His head came up real high, and his tail came up in the air. 869 01:00:21,407 --> 01:00:25,532 And for the last 7 miles he just strutted down to Nome. 870 01:00:51,657 --> 01:00:53,258 Lance Mackey whipping up the crowd. 871 01:00:53,329 --> 01:00:56,071 Clapping both his hands as the chute closes behind him. 872 01:00:56,157 --> 01:00:59,224 He's in the chute. Coming up past City Hall. 873 01:00:59,946 --> 01:01:03,063 Lance Mackey and his comeback kettle coming back. 874 01:01:03,509 --> 01:01:06,508 This is Lance Mackey, your Iditarod Champion. 875 01:01:06,557 --> 01:01:08,118 Yeah! 876 01:01:19,438 --> 01:01:20,782 Life just changed. 877 01:01:24,860 --> 01:01:26,024 Yeah! 878 01:01:31,649 --> 01:01:33,125 You guys are incredible. 879 01:01:37,173 --> 01:01:38,173 I so love you. 880 01:01:40,681 --> 01:01:43,008 Why is it so important to the Mackey family? 881 01:01:43,274 --> 01:01:45,196 Why has this event become so much 882 01:01:45,245 --> 01:01:47,430 about your family in its definition. 883 01:01:47,954 --> 01:01:49,290 Well it's our lifestyle. 884 01:01:49,321 --> 01:01:51,743 It's something we breathe, eat and sleep. 885 01:01:51,782 --> 01:01:54,102 I mean this is what we do. You know? 886 01:01:54,151 --> 01:01:56,094 My dad got me hooked on this sport. 887 01:01:56,868 --> 01:01:59,944 I'm so proud of him not being a warrior 888 01:01:59,993 --> 01:02:01,938 or a line cook, or something like that. 889 01:02:01,962 --> 01:02:03,743 I don't know if I'd follow in his footsteps. 890 01:02:04,024 --> 01:02:05,735 This is my passion. 891 01:02:05,860 --> 01:02:07,571 And it is very important for us to be 892 01:02:07,620 --> 01:02:09,016 for me to be successful. 893 01:02:09,110 --> 01:02:11,071 And make my father proud. You know? 894 01:02:11,649 --> 01:02:13,532 Lance, your father is not here tonight. 895 01:02:13,595 --> 01:02:16,157 If he was, right now, what would you say to him? 896 01:02:17,133 --> 01:02:18,415 I don't know if I could talk. 897 01:02:22,508 --> 01:02:23,866 He'd be a proud man. 898 01:02:24,868 --> 01:02:26,258 No prouder than your mom. 899 01:02:29,353 --> 01:02:30,977 He ain't no prouder than your momma. 900 01:02:31,024 --> 01:02:32,758 Dreams do come true momma. 901 01:02:32,938 --> 01:02:35,079 He ain't no prouder than your mom. 902 01:02:35,134 --> 01:02:39,071 I know. I'm so happy to see you. Oh my God mom. 903 01:02:46,212 --> 01:02:48,375 I can't believe it. 904 01:02:57,751 --> 01:02:59,954 It was a vision with a dream. 905 01:03:05,212 --> 01:03:09,000 Oh, I did it. They did. They did it too. 906 01:03:09,087 --> 01:03:10,420 Lance will check in. 907 01:03:15,532 --> 01:03:17,883 Oh, it feels so good. 908 01:03:27,759 --> 01:03:31,055 Oh my God. My son just won this thing. 909 01:03:35,376 --> 01:03:36,555 That was the best - 910 01:03:38,415 --> 01:03:41,993 that was the best win, I think, in the history of Iditarod. 911 01:03:47,704 --> 01:03:49,360 I was just in the middle of getting 912 01:03:49,409 --> 01:03:51,032 comfortable and undressed when 913 01:03:51,081 --> 01:03:52,710 I seen the door come open and him 914 01:03:52,759 --> 01:03:54,016 come through the front door. 915 01:04:18,587 --> 01:04:22,250 He said 'I've always wanted to be like my dad and now I am.' 916 01:04:22,688 --> 01:04:25,696 That was pretty special. Yeah. Yeah. 917 01:04:28,719 --> 01:04:32,319 It was cool standing there as I'm answering questions 918 01:04:32,368 --> 01:04:34,790 to look over and see that smile on his face. 919 01:04:35,384 --> 01:04:36,450 The whole time. 920 01:04:38,079 --> 01:04:42,016 And I knew that I'd done what I'd set out to achieve. 921 01:04:42,071 --> 01:04:44,579 And that was to make my parents proud. 922 01:05:26,649 --> 01:05:29,249 He's a guy that didn't get any respect 923 01:05:29,298 --> 01:05:30,649 leading up to the day he won. 924 01:05:30,688 --> 01:05:32,532 And then he still had trouble garnering 925 01:05:32,716 --> 01:05:35,382 respect from his peers once he did win. 926 01:05:35,696 --> 01:05:38,594 The first thing that the competitors were saying was 927 01:05:38,626 --> 01:05:40,559 'Oh, he got lucky. Oh, it was a 928 01:05:40,608 --> 01:05:42,813 fluke. That will never happen again.' 929 01:05:43,212 --> 01:05:45,290 You know? Really? 930 01:05:45,892 --> 01:05:47,805 Why can't you just come up and congratulate me. 931 01:05:47,844 --> 01:05:49,930 Tell me good job instead of making all these excuses 932 01:05:49,979 --> 01:05:51,980 why it happened, why you couldn't do it? 933 01:05:52,418 --> 01:05:53,879 And that's exactly what was going on. 934 01:05:53,934 --> 01:05:55,441 And all that did was just piss me off. 935 01:05:56,106 --> 01:05:58,137 Really? Watch this. 936 01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:01,762 3,2,1 Go 937 01:06:04,879 --> 01:06:09,379 Champion, Lance Mackey from Fairbanks, on his way to Nome. 938 01:06:09,582 --> 01:06:12,230 2,1 Go! 939 01:06:12,340 --> 01:06:16,801 The Denali Park Champion Jeff King on his way to Nome. 940 01:06:17,410 --> 01:06:19,754 Jeff was the team I had to beat to win the race. 941 01:06:24,223 --> 01:06:25,793 I don't care who wins the Iditarod. 942 01:06:26,059 --> 01:06:27,551 They have to outrun Jeff to do it. 943 01:06:28,840 --> 01:06:30,176 He is the best in the world. 944 01:06:30,692 --> 01:06:34,027 And we pretty much dominated the race from the very get go. 945 01:06:35,308 --> 01:06:38,113 He knew Jeff was faster. And his team was better. 946 01:06:38,520 --> 01:06:40,105 And Jeff was toying with him. 947 01:06:41,629 --> 01:06:44,230 Everything I was doing he seemed to be doing as well. 948 01:06:46,863 --> 01:06:48,228 If I stopped, he was going to stop. 949 01:06:48,277 --> 01:06:50,365 If I went to sleep, he was going to go to sleep. If I 950 01:06:50,414 --> 01:06:52,051 fed my dogs, he's going to feed his dogs. 951 01:06:54,724 --> 01:06:56,965 He realizes that King is just dogging him. 952 01:06:57,442 --> 01:07:00,113 He's going to dog him and dog him. Let him break trail. 953 01:07:00,387 --> 01:07:02,347 Just be his shadow. And then in the last 954 01:07:02,457 --> 01:07:05,043 100 miles of the race he's going to take control and win. 955 01:07:07,832 --> 01:07:10,269 He's been doing this since he started racing. You know? 956 01:07:10,301 --> 01:07:12,574 Hang back, hang back and catch you on the coast. 957 01:07:12,623 --> 01:07:14,180 And you never see him again. 958 01:07:15,520 --> 01:07:18,801 We both knew it was going to come down to the two of us. 959 01:07:18,850 --> 01:07:23,332 And trail times were giving me a slight advantage. 960 01:07:23,410 --> 01:07:27,137 But enough of this letting you leave an hour ahead of me. 961 01:07:27,176 --> 01:07:28,504 I'm going out right behind ya. 962 01:07:30,371 --> 01:07:32,621 Hut. I kept thinking 'How am I really going 963 01:07:32,670 --> 01:07:34,512 to outrun a team that's faster than me?' 964 01:07:35,932 --> 01:07:38,097 I knew I had to do something to shake him a little bit. 965 01:07:41,793 --> 01:07:43,527 Elim's the last opportunity. 966 01:07:44,121 --> 01:07:45,816 It was pretty much the end of the line. 967 01:07:45,865 --> 01:07:48,402 Okay. Welcome to Elim. 968 01:07:48,588 --> 01:07:49,658 How's it going? 969 01:07:49,707 --> 01:07:50,722 Alright. 970 01:07:50,981 --> 01:07:52,519 Planning on sleeping a little bit? 971 01:07:52,590 --> 01:07:53,832 Couple hour's maybe. 972 01:07:56,957 --> 01:08:03,457 Okay. Good then. Okay. Okay. Plan on staying? 973 01:08:03,629 --> 01:08:05,563 I'm only going if he's going. 974 01:08:05,754 --> 01:08:07,590 Uh, he plans on staying a little bit. 975 01:08:07,707 --> 01:08:08,707 Okay. 976 01:08:11,801 --> 01:08:17,988 I'm not sure exactly what to say to him at this stage. 977 01:08:19,770 --> 01:08:21,769 I'm not going to congratulate him yet. 978 01:08:24,207 --> 01:08:28,488 He's finally done. He finally knows I'm going to beat him. 979 01:08:28,942 --> 01:08:30,738 And he's just going to hold on to second. 980 01:08:32,621 --> 01:08:33,621 Rockstar. 981 01:08:33,934 --> 01:08:34,934 Likewise uh? 982 01:08:35,231 --> 01:08:37,582 He's just going to basically throw in the towel. 983 01:08:39,200 --> 01:08:43,269 I go in, I drank two big family size cups of coffee. 984 01:08:44,387 --> 01:08:45,855 Then I went and laid down. 985 01:08:47,285 --> 01:08:48,988 He went and laid down by the door. 986 01:08:49,668 --> 01:08:53,668 Put in some headphones and went to sleep that fast. 987 01:08:59,784 --> 01:09:01,941 If anybody asks- I'm still laying down. 988 01:09:02,504 --> 01:09:08,418 Hey. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. 989 01:09:11,606 --> 01:09:12,872 Alright. Kill that. 990 01:09:16,129 --> 01:09:17,738 Hut, hut. 991 01:09:20,223 --> 01:09:22,362 When my eyes opened and I made eye contact 992 01:09:22,411 --> 01:09:23,887 with some of the people in the room, 993 01:09:24,998 --> 01:09:28,113 they looked like they had seen a mass murderer. 994 01:09:29,067 --> 01:09:32,043 And I realized I had been duped. 995 01:09:36,215 --> 01:09:38,058 There's quite a crowd out here as you can hear. 996 01:09:38,090 --> 01:09:39,863 Very boisterous for 3 in the morning but 997 01:09:39,912 --> 01:09:41,691 that's not stopping the gold rush city 998 01:09:41,740 --> 01:09:44,690 from welcoming Lance Mackey to Nome for 999 01:09:44,739 --> 01:09:47,035 the second time in a row in first place. 1000 01:09:49,863 --> 01:09:51,551 His lead dogs crossing right now. 1001 01:09:51,770 --> 01:09:56,519 Lance Mackey, your 2008 Iditarod Sled Dog Race Champion. 1002 01:10:06,409 --> 01:10:08,573 If you're going to dream, dream big right? 1003 01:10:11,362 --> 01:10:12,932 Thank you Lance. Good luck in the race. 1004 01:10:12,981 --> 01:10:14,182 Thank you. Have a great night. 1005 01:10:14,198 --> 01:10:15,198 Thank you. 1006 01:10:15,245 --> 01:10:16,245 There you go. 1007 01:10:16,995 --> 01:10:18,057 Thank you. 1008 01:10:18,106 --> 01:10:21,073 My pleasure. Thank you ladies. I appreciate you being out here. 1009 01:10:21,362 --> 01:10:24,706 This race wouldn't be Iditarod, I think, without Lance Mackey. 1010 01:10:24,917 --> 01:10:27,964 How you doing young lady? You excited about that Iditarod? 1011 01:10:28,034 --> 01:10:29,729 I knew you when you were nobody. 1012 01:10:30,956 --> 01:10:32,651 Come on now. I've always been somebody. 1013 01:10:32,706 --> 01:10:34,221 Shut up and give me a kiss. 1014 01:10:34,683 --> 01:10:36,963 Lance Mackey and his comeback kettle. 1015 01:10:37,050 --> 01:10:40,073 Coming back for a 3rd consecutive victory. 1016 01:10:40,144 --> 01:10:45,854 This is Lance Mackey your 2009 Iditarod Champion. Lance Mackey! 1017 01:10:48,011 --> 01:10:51,206 I didn't really think all this was going to become of it. 1018 01:10:51,316 --> 01:10:52,346 I honestly didn't. 1019 01:10:53,960 --> 01:10:55,495 I'm not just running dogs to become 1020 01:10:55,544 --> 01:10:57,378 noticed and to win the Iditarod. 1021 01:10:57,427 --> 01:10:59,378 I love spending time with the dogs. 1022 01:10:59,417 --> 01:11:01,674 I love Alaska and I love the people in it. 1023 01:11:04,307 --> 01:11:06,588 I was down at the local hardware store the other day. 1024 01:11:06,737 --> 01:11:09,065 A teenager was working in there. And 1025 01:11:09,815 --> 01:11:11,549 I bought something with a credit card. 1026 01:11:11,610 --> 01:11:13,182 She said 'Dick Mackey. 1027 01:11:14,394 --> 01:11:15,838 Are you related to Lance?' 1028 01:11:16,784 --> 01:11:20,698 And I says 'Yeah. I'm his dad.' 1029 01:11:21,151 --> 01:11:22,253 'Oh cool.' 1030 01:11:22,901 --> 01:11:25,088 And she says 'Did you run dogs too?' 1031 01:11:27,667 --> 01:11:30,018 A historic finish for 2010. 1032 01:11:30,081 --> 01:11:34,338 Four for Lance Mackey. The only musher to do so back to back. 1033 01:11:34,643 --> 01:11:36,260 I drew the right number. Number 49. 1034 01:11:36,309 --> 01:11:38,143 This is representing the whole state of Alaska 1035 01:11:38,192 --> 01:11:39,971 and the people who believe in me. 1036 01:11:41,853 --> 01:11:45,260 You've done something that will never be repeated son. 1037 01:11:51,339 --> 01:11:53,471 Four in a row will never be done again. 1038 01:11:53,511 --> 01:11:55,292 This is the greatest accomplishment 1039 01:11:55,341 --> 01:11:57,643 that this sport has ever, ever seen. 1040 01:11:58,136 --> 01:11:59,932 And it's the greatest accomplishment 1041 01:11:59,981 --> 01:12:01,184 that this sport will ever see. 1042 01:12:01,308 --> 01:12:03,348 Ever. Period. Done. End of story. 1043 01:12:03,397 --> 01:12:04,965 The greatest thing has already happened. 1044 01:12:06,669 --> 01:12:08,027 Okay. Come eat. Come on. 1045 01:12:09,434 --> 01:12:10,723 - Hi. - Hello 1046 01:12:10,997 --> 01:12:12,645 - You're eating. I know. -Not yet 1047 01:12:13,019 --> 01:12:16,407 Well, I'm sorry. No, it's just you 1048 01:12:16,465 --> 01:12:18,246 gotta say no. but after me okay? 1049 01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:20,676 - Thanks Lance. - You're very welcome. 1050 01:12:21,208 --> 01:12:24,559 It's nonstop. Everybody wants a piece of him. 1051 01:12:25,036 --> 01:12:27,769 I think success always comes at a price. 1052 01:12:27,934 --> 01:12:31,606 His marriage to Tonya probably is a casualty of the success. 1053 01:12:31,981 --> 01:12:33,065 Welcome to the Iditarod. 1054 01:12:33,114 --> 01:12:35,385 What a hero I'm going to be when I go home. 1055 01:12:39,395 --> 01:12:40,551 Lance Mackey. 1056 01:12:40,879 --> 01:12:42,324 This is a name you should remember 1057 01:12:42,373 --> 01:12:43,902 if you're interested in dog mushing. 1058 01:12:44,044 --> 01:12:46,777 Look over here to the right, the man himself is going to 1059 01:12:46,826 --> 01:12:49,676 be our guest today during the time that you're on shore. 1060 01:12:50,184 --> 01:12:51,738 Small little test. 1061 01:12:51,997 --> 01:12:53,559 When you get done with your vacation, 1062 01:12:53,608 --> 01:12:55,021 you go home and see your dog, 1063 01:12:55,294 --> 01:12:56,850 lock it in the closet with your husband 1064 01:12:56,899 --> 01:12:58,246 or your wife for about an hour. 1065 01:12:58,637 --> 01:13:00,590 Then go back to see which one's happy to see ya. 1066 01:13:02,364 --> 01:13:04,090 Lance Mackey. 1067 01:13:06,809 --> 01:13:07,988 I call him Hollywood. 1068 01:13:08,184 --> 01:13:10,074 But if there was one thing that would get his 1069 01:13:10,123 --> 01:13:12,441 attention more than anything- ice cream. 1070 01:13:12,481 --> 01:13:14,281 Oh, he found the ice cream. 1071 01:13:15,802 --> 01:13:17,918 I started racing dogs even before I was even born. 1072 01:13:18,167 --> 01:13:20,090 When I went to school I had a knife and a lighter 1073 01:13:20,139 --> 01:13:21,145 in my pocket. 1074 01:13:22,294 --> 01:13:25,817 He is a lover this boy. He's done this once or twice. 1075 01:13:26,043 --> 01:13:27,606 Here want some water? 1076 01:13:29,489 --> 01:13:31,996 He can't drink water out of a bowl. 1077 01:13:32,028 --> 01:13:33,278 He'd think he was a dog then. 1078 01:13:44,145 --> 01:13:45,895 I spent, you know, a fair amount 1079 01:13:45,944 --> 01:13:48,614 of time fighting with my ex-wife. 1080 01:13:49,063 --> 01:13:52,063 And I would get on a sled and go for a ride. 1081 01:13:52,434 --> 01:13:55,481 And five minutes after I left the yard normally I was fine. 1082 01:13:56,152 --> 01:13:59,231 Dogs didn't care about what kind of argument I just had. Or- 1083 01:14:00,418 --> 01:14:02,535 you know? I understand dogs a lot more. 1084 01:14:03,233 --> 01:14:04,660 I don't understand people. 1085 01:14:04,966 --> 01:14:06,535 It's been easier for me to communicate 1086 01:14:06,584 --> 01:14:08,558 with dogs pretty much all my life. 1087 01:14:11,957 --> 01:14:14,269 I'm more comfortable doing this kind of stuff than being 1088 01:14:14,318 --> 01:14:17,222 surrounded by a bunch of people, and buildings and cars. 1089 01:14:17,801 --> 01:14:21,800 Living in the woods would be just fine by me. 1090 01:14:43,449 --> 01:14:45,049 It's warm out huh guys? 1091 01:14:48,723 --> 01:14:52,097 I think that's everybody. That's everybody. 1092 01:14:57,144 --> 01:14:58,785 You live in Fairbanks? 1093 01:15:00,160 --> 01:15:01,160 How'd you know that? 1094 01:15:01,480 --> 01:15:02,705 Musher update. 1095 01:15:02,754 --> 01:15:05,886 They got all the musher's pictures up at the school. 1096 01:15:05,935 --> 01:15:07,933 And they say where you live and everything. 1097 01:15:07,980 --> 01:15:10,160 It says you're around year 50. 1098 01:15:10,223 --> 01:15:12,634 What? You knew? 1099 01:15:12,674 --> 01:15:13,689 I forgot. 1100 01:15:13,736 --> 01:15:16,070 No. It didn't say I was around 50. 1101 01:15:16,127 --> 01:15:17,127 I forgot. 1102 01:15:17,307 --> 01:15:18,307 No. 1103 01:15:20,658 --> 01:15:22,360 No. She's older than I am. 1104 01:15:23,088 --> 01:15:24,228 In dog years. 1105 01:15:29,844 --> 01:15:31,416 Ah, you make me laugh. 1106 01:15:52,736 --> 01:15:54,072 You know at one point in the race, 1107 01:15:54,330 --> 01:15:55,955 I really thought I could win this thing. 1108 01:15:58,205 --> 01:16:00,251 But hey, you know, you're not going to win them all. 1109 01:16:06,748 --> 01:16:12,240 Lance finished 19th in the 2013 Iditarod. 1110 01:16:22,830 --> 01:16:25,408 I'm not going to say I wouldn't want to win the Iditarod again. 1111 01:16:25,457 --> 01:16:27,376 But it wouldn't change anything if I did. 1112 01:16:27,479 --> 01:16:29,634 There we go. That's it. 1113 01:16:30,025 --> 01:16:31,830 I just want to go have fun with my dogs. 1114 01:16:33,080 --> 01:16:35,892 Thatta boys. Good job. 1115 01:16:38,736 --> 01:16:43,119 How about you old man? Want some? Hey big Zippo. 1116 01:16:46,307 --> 01:16:49,798 Hi pretty girl. You get some loving too. 1117 01:16:50,283 --> 01:16:51,439 I didn't forget you. 1118 01:16:57,096 --> 01:17:02,119 Alright munchkins. Alright little munchkins. 1119 01:17:06,775 --> 01:17:12,541 They're all my best friends. Every single one of them. 1120 01:17:17,760 --> 01:17:20,814 Billy Badass. Billy Badass. 1121 01:17:21,705 --> 01:17:23,251 There's nothing else in the world 1122 01:17:23,300 --> 01:17:25,119 that matters when I'm with them. 1123 01:17:40,361 --> 01:17:42,345 Most people think we're alone when we're out there 1124 01:17:42,394 --> 01:17:44,064 in the middle of nowhere. 1125 01:17:46,190 --> 01:17:48,384 There's nothing more enjoyable than 1126 01:17:48,433 --> 01:17:50,541 being out with your best friends. 1127 01:17:53,674 --> 01:17:55,751 That's it. That's it. 1128 01:17:56,908 --> 01:17:58,306 That's my boys. 1129 01:18:07,955 --> 01:18:09,259 It is all about the dogs. 1130 01:18:10,394 --> 01:18:13,689 As long as my dogs are happy and healthy I'm golden. 1131 01:18:59,268 --> 01:19:01,533 I know you haven't had enough attention today. 1132 01:19:02,197 --> 01:19:04,345 I know you haven't had no attention today. 1133 01:19:04,400 --> 01:19:07,462 Yeah, you silly boy. So sorry boy. 1134 01:19:12,611 --> 01:19:13,945 Yeah. Little boy. 1135 01:19:47,267 --> 01:19:48,267 Is that all?