HUMAN

Name: DICK MACKEY
Age: 86
Residence: HERE IN WASILLA, ALASKA NOW
Occupation: I’M RETIRED
Years involved with Iditarod: SINCE BEFORE IT STARTED. ACTUALLY, I WAS INVOLVED IN THE CENTENNIAL RACE IN 1967. AND IN 1966 I STARTED WORKING ON THE TRAIL OUT OF KNIK.
Iditarod Role: MY ROLL HERE TODAY IS JUST A SPECTATOR, MAN.
Current Location: WILLOW, ALASKA – RESTART
Date of Photo: MARCH 3, 2019
Temperature: 23F / OUTDOORS

What is your Why?.. Why are you here today and involved in Iditarod?:

WELL, JOE REDINGTON GOT ME HOOKED ON TRAIL WORK. AND I WAS A SPRINT MUSHER. AND I HAPPENED TO BE ONE OF THE GUYS THAT BELIEVED IN LONG-DISTANCE RACING. AND BECAUSE WHEN YOU’RE A SPRINT MUSHER, BACK IN THOSE DAY – BACK IN THE ‘60S – YOU’D COME HOME FROM WORK, RUN A FEW MILES, AND THEN YOU WERE READY FOR THE WEEKEND. AND LONG-DISTANCE RACING, YOU HAD TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR DOGS. AND THAT WAS MY JOY.

Tell me about your most rewarding experience on Iditarod?:

MY PERSONAL MOST REWARDING EXPERIENCE HAS TO BE MY 1978 FINISH WHEN I BEAT NOT ONLY RICK SWENSON WHEN HE WAS THE CHAMPION, HE WAS 20 YEARS YOUNGER THAN I WAS. I WAS 45 AT THE TIME. AND I WON IT BY ONE SECOND. IT’S THE ONLY PHOTO-FINISH THE IDITAROD HAS EVER EXPERIENCED, SO I CAN BRAG ON THAT ANYWAY.

What do you know for sure?:

LIFE IS GOOD, JEFF. IT’S LONG AND IT’S GOOD.