Fathers pass on to their children many things: practical skills, life advice and family traditions. But for Dick Mackey all those things culminate in one word ‹ Iditarod.
Many may remember the 68-year-old Mackey best for his down-to-the-wire 1978 victory in the Last Great Race when he finished one second ahead of defending champion Rick Swenson.
Mackey also is known for many other contributions to the Iditarod over the years, including race committee president, race manager, trail manager, start and finish announcer and banquet emcee.
However, after this year's race, Mackey will have another claim to fame in association with the 1,100-plus mile race.
"When Jason crosses under the burled arch in Nome, that will be all four sons now," said the senior Mackey, referring to his 32-year-old son from Kasilof who is a rookie in Iditarod 32.
"You just can't beat that," Dick said. "The whole family is proud."
In addition to Jason, Dick has two other sons in a pool of talented mushers competing in this year's race ‹ 33-year-old Lance from Kasilof and 49-year-old Rick from Nenana, who claimed victory himself in the 1983 Iditarod. Dick's other son, Bill, is not competing this year, but he claimed the Red Lantern Award when he raced in 1984 ‹ his first and only Iditarod to date. The award is given to the last musher to cross the finish line.
Dick said it's great to see his boys following in his footsteps, but he wasn't surprised by it.
"Well, it's in their blood, really. They grew up in a dog lot and have been around it their whole lives," Dick said.
He was at the ceremonial start in Anchorage for this year's race and rode on Jason's whip sled ‹ the second sled that trails behind the musher ‹ as he took his "Iditarider" on a tour through downtown. Dick crossed under an overpass that had a huge banner dangling from it that read "Go Mackeys." On it were the names of the three sons competing in the 2004 race.
However, after seeing all three sons off at the official race start in Willow, Dick began the waiting game like everyone else.
"I've been following them hourly by going on the Internet," he said. "I follow the race religiously every year, but I'm seriously getting a lot of enjoyment from following the boys."
Dick will fly to Nome on Monday and is looking forward to seeing his three sons finish. He said Lance and Rick ‹ being veterans ‹ know what to expect, but his youngest is a first-timer.
"Rookies don't always comprehend what they're getting into, so it will be really great to hear all the stories from Jason," he said.
He added that being in the thick of things again has brought back a lot of memories. The seasoned musher has even had fans try to talk him out of retirement.
"People are always asking if I want to run it again, and I always say, 'Sure, I'll run it, but who's gonna bootie the dogs, build the fire and cook the food,'" he joked.
Dick said he knows just how much the Iditarod has transformed since he won the race.
"Like any competitive sport, it's changed a lot over the years. Some of the changes have been good, others not so good," he said.
Dick said veterinary knowledge, dog care, nutrition for both dogs and humans and the quality and availability of gear have all changed for the better.
However, he said that as some things changed to become easier or faster, something else was lost in the process. As a result, some young musher may not realize just how good they've got it.
"Nothing makes me madder than when people say how the Iditarod has changed from a week-long camping trip into a real race," Dick said. "We were certainly racing, too, but back when I was racing you had to spend hours on snowshoes breaking trail, or sometimes just looking for it."
His description stands as a stark comparison to the typically well-marked and well-groomed trail most mushers know today.
Dick also groused about the rule passed by the Iditarod Trail Committee banning outside assistance while at checkpoints. Back in his day, mushers would routinely stay with families and friends they had made in the villages along the way to Nome.
"It wasn't fair to the rookies, so I can see how something had to change, but to take the villagers completely out of the race ‹ I'm really sorry to see that. I'm sure the villagers would say the same," he said.
However, he said other than those few things, most of the changes to the race have been good.
The size of the race purse is one of the positive changes. Dick took home $12,000 the year he won, but the victor of this year's Iditarod will claim $69,000 and a new Dodge truck for being first.
"It's still not enough, though," Dick said. "When you've got a dog lot, it's 24-7, 365 days a year. That costs a lot."
He said the race champions often can make enough to live off of from their winnings, but for the people who don't finish in the top 10 or 20, the same is not true.
"It costs just as much to feed a mediocre dog as it does to feed a champion. But a person that finishes in say, 43rd position, they can't make a reasonable living off their winnings, and they should be able to," he said.
"A person who finishes in 43rd in NASCAR makes a good living, so why shouldn't the same be true for the Iditarod? Why is that after 32 years?"
