Update: Gatt, Kleedehn into Dawson
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—Lance Mackey took a wrong turn Tuesday, but still won the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
Mackey won his second consecutive Quest behind his lead dog, Larry, when he crossed the finish at 7:29 p.m. AST with 11 dogs. He became the race’s fourth multiple champion despite being caught by his closest pursuers and taking a wrong turn as he left the last checkpoint early Tuesday morning.
“It was stressful,” Mackey said after he crossed the finish line in this historic gold rush town.
“I still don’t know how I managed it. Until just now I didn’t know if I was first or third or what happened.”
Mackey said he took a wrong turn Tuesday near the top of King Solomon’s Dome outside Dawson, causing a long delay that nearly cost him the race.
“When I figured out that we took the wrong trail, I cried like a baby. I thought it was over,” the Kasilof resident said. “But it looks like things turned out OK.”
While Mackey rested eight hours in Stewart River, Hans Gatt and William Kleedehn rested 12 and 13 hours before starting the 100-mile run to Dawson, where the race was forced to finish this year because of poor trail conditions.
That extra rest proved to be the difference. Mackey finished the race in 10 days, seven hours and 47 minutes with an average trail speed of 3.84 mph, according to the Quest’s Web site. He completed the final 100 miles in 17 hours and 44 minutes.
Gatt (10:08:59) arrived in Dawson 1 hour, 12 minutes behind Mackey after finishing the final run in 15 hours 41 minutes, while Kleedehn (10:09:05) was six minutes behind Gatt with a run of just under 14 hours.
“I should have been here hours ago,” Mackey said. “I didn’t pay attention to my leader.”
At the top of King Solomon’s Dome, Mackey had the option of going right onto a snowmachine trail or going left down a nice paved road that was clear. Larry wanted to go right. But Mackey overrode his leader and went left.
“I assumed that road didn’t go on forever,” Mackey said. “It did. There’s 4,000 acres of farmland down there and I saw all of them.”
At that point, lost and not knowing where Gatt and Kleedehn were behind him, Mackey felt like the race was over.
“I thought I blew it,” he said. “I started apologizing to the dogs, I was telling them it wasn’t their fault. I wanted to bawl like a baby. It was a self-inflicted wound.”
After winning the Quest last year on his rookie run, Mackey said the second one was even more memorable.
“I didn’t know that they got better each time,” he said. “Basically it answers all the unanswered questions from last year. Everybody said Gatt wasn’t there and I got lucky to win.
“This time, Gatt was here. And maybe I got lucky again.”
Both Gatt and Kleedehn were shocked to hear how close they were to Mackey when they finished. Neither of the veteran mushers knew that Mackey had gotten lost.
“I should have left with you,” Gatt said to Mackey at the finish line. “You deserve it anyway.”
Kleedehn said that his stop of 12 hours 45 minutes at Stewart River was essential for his dogs.
“I ran nonstop to get there,” Kleedehn said. “And I was going to run nonstop to get here. Those dogs needed more than eight hours.”
Kleedehn fed his team some snacks at the finish line Tuesday night and then spoke with Race Marshal Mike McCowan.
“Is that true, he got lost?” Kleedehn asked. “What a disaster. Under those circumstances, I’m glad he was first here.”
Nine teams remained on the trail to Dawson City overnight. They were traveling over a route that had been reshaped due to low snow conditions. Racers traditionally travel from Dawson City to Pelly Crossing, then on to Carmacks, Braeburn and Whitehorse.
This year, teams turned around in Pelly and retraced the 200 miles back to Dawson City. The total route covered about 950 of the intended 1,000 miles.
Mackey comes from one of mushing’s most notable families. His father, Dick, who surprised Mackey at the finish line in Dawson, won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. And his brother, Rick, is one of three mushers to win both the Quest and Iditarod.
Mackey has his own piece of history with two Quest titles. Other multiple winners of the Quest are Gatt (2002-04), Charlie Boulding (1991, 1993) and John Schandelmeier (1992, 1996).
Mackey said it was Larry who pushed him into that group.
“He deserved to be the superstar that I call him,” Mackey said. “Larry is the steering wheel and the brains of the outfit.”