Gebhardt chases Mackey to Nome; four rest in White Mountain

Anchorage Daily News

Published: March 13, 2007
Last Modified: March 14, 2007 at 06:38 PM

WHITE MOUNTAIN -- With Lance Mackey leading Paul Gebhardt on the final 77-mile stretch to Front Street, four other mushers have checked into the White Mountain checkpoint for a mandatory eight-hour rest before taking up the chase.

Those four will battle it out for third, fourth, fifth and sixth places. Less than two hours separate third - place Martin Buser from fifth-place Jeff King, with young Sheep Mountain musher Zach Steer sandwiched between them. Where they finish has a big bearing on how much they win. Third place pays $57,000; sixth pays $40,000. Ed Iten of Kotzebue is also in White Mountain.

Gebhardt was second in the 2000 Iditarod and finished third last year. Mackey left White Mountain at 9:38 a.m. If he completes the last stretch in 10 hours, which is about the average of the past five years, he'll arrive in Nome at about 7:30 tonight.

But he won't be with Zorro. Mackey's always faithful dog was awaiting a plane ride home from this checkpoint as a tearful Mackey hit the trail for what is expected to be a historic finish to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race later today.

Just before leaving, an emotional Mackey wiped back tears as he comforted the 9-year-old male veterinarians think might have contracted pneumonia.

"Buddy, you'll be all right," he said. "I'll see you in a little while."

Zorro is the stud who helped the Fairbanks musher build a team that has won the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race three years running and is now poised to win the 1,100 mile Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome.

Back-to-back victories in these two ultramarathons -- the Quest in late February, the Iditarod in early March -- is not simply unprecedented. Prior to Mackey's showing here, the feat was considered impossible.

Though cognizant of the fact he was on the brink of Alaska mushing history, Mackey was clearly troubled that Zorro wouldn't be joining him under the burled arch that marks the Iditarod finish line in Nome.

"I've had better mornings," he said as he prepared to leave Zorro at the checkpoint. "But it's a real great day nonetheless."

Sunny skies were smiling on him for the last 80-mile march over the Topkok Hills to the beaches outside of Nome and the final turn down fabled Front Street, near where thousands would gather to welcome a new Iditarod champion.

Mackey's mood brightened as he bootied dogs and prepared to hit the trail at about 9:30 a.m. His always ebullient father, he knew, was waiting at the finish line.

"I know he's ecstatic right now, a very proud man," Mackey said. "I'm looking forward to it. Two years ago, I was about to crack the top 10 and my dad said he wasn't going to meet me in Nome unless I won this race. So to see my dad out in Safety, the way he was (that year) - arms straight in the air, a big bucket of tears - I had to stop and get myself together.

"That showed exactly what he thought of my accomplishment. He changed his plans and made a special trip to see me come in the top 10. So now here I am, I'm going to win this damn thing. I can only imagine what he's thinking.

"I guarantee nobody thought this was going to be possible, sixth try, No. 13. What's the odds? You know, huge! Huge! But I was ready, damned and determined when I picked that number. That bib to me now is absolutely priceless. Absolutely priceless. It'll be a piece of memorabilia that I'll cherish the rest of my life."

Mackey also revealed for the first time that the dogs that did so much for him in the Quest and the Iditarod weren't really the dogs with which he originally planned to run two races.

"I originally planned to take a young team to the Quest, then all my veterans here (to the Iditarod)," he said. "(But) I had to rethink all that when they raised the purse in the Quest. I was going to defend my title and with a team that didn't have too much experience."

The younger dogs had done well in some 200-mile races, but Mackey wasn't sure of what they'd do in the longer events. So, he started playing with various combinations of dog teams.

"I had to re-evaluate my options," he said. "I broke my veterans down into half, (but) when it was all said and done, I didn't feel that the 2-year-old team lived up to its expectations. And to just run the Quest wasn't in my train of thought. I had to go defend my title."

So he started the Quest with almost all his veteran dogs.

"In reality, I thought it'd be easier to go there and do well as opposed to going here (in Iditarod)," he said. "Getting a top 10 here in this race is a major accomplishment. So I thought I had a pretty good shot at getting top three over there, and if everything goes well here, a top 10."

He ended up doing a lot better than he expected, and by the end it was with the same dogs that had helped him to victory in the Quest. They were mainly old veterans, with a couple of youngsters in the mix.

"One of them being Rev," Mackey said. "He made it to White Mountain this year. I think what I have is a superstar leader for next year."

When Mackey left White Mountain behind nine dogs for the final push to Nome, Rev sat on the bench. His health was fine, but he was tired. The musher judged Rev's old teammates better prepared for the last leg of the race and recognized the old mushing adage that a team can only go as fast as the slowest dog.

The nine Mackey had in harness looked good to go coming off a mandatory, eight hour rest.

They left the checkpoint with almost a three-hour head start on Gebhardt, Mackey's old neighbor from Kasilof on the Kenai Peninsula.

Behind Gebhardt in White Mountain were four-time champs Martin Buser from Big Lake, 49, and Jeff King from Denali Park, 51, who are trying to hold off hard-charging 33-year-old musher Zack Steer from Sheep Mountain.

The 36-year-old Mackey talked about the Iditarod old guard as he munched on a bowl of hamburger and stirfry at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning at the checkpoint here.

"You know, I was kind of thinking on the way here, I'm tired of the Jeff and Martin Show," he said. "It's time for a new face, even if it's an ugly one."

Mackey is a cancer survivor who was left with nerve damage in his hand after having a lymphoma removed from his neck. It left him unable to manipulate the trigger finger on one hand. Because the finger got in the way of changing dog booties, Mackey eventually had a doctor remove it, and now he has only three fingers on that hand.

Mackey is likely to arrive in Nome sometime around 7:30 tonight to win his first Idiatrod, pick up the first-place money of $69,000 and collect a much needed new truck. The ones he owns now often don't run.

The 2007 Dodge Ram Laramie that goes to the Iditarod winner along with the prize money was thus looking awfully good to the musher.

"Somebody said I could go pick the color of my truck," he said. "I'd like to have a one-of-a-kind (truck). I'm gonna have it painted up. People are gonna know what that truck means to me."

Contact reporter Kevin Klott at kklott@adn.com or (907) 227-5143.

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