[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S4916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRATULATING LANCE MACKEY

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wish to congratulate Lance 
Mackey for being the first dog musher to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race 
and the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race--the world's two longest sled dog 
races--in the same year. He won both races earlier this year.
  For those who are not familiar with both races, this is an incredible 
accomplishment. To put his feat into perspective, Lance Mackey and his 
dogs traveled a total distance that is equal to traveling between 
Boston, MA and Salt Lake City, UT.
  The Yukon Quest Sled Dog race is a 1,000-mile annual international 
sled dog race between Whitehorse, Canada, and Fairbanks, AK. The trail 
follows a portion of the Yukon River and trails used by gold 
prospectors over 100 years ago. On February 20, 2007, in Fairbanks, he 
completed this sled dog race in a record time of 10 days, 2 hours, and 
37 minutes.
  Only 12 days after winning the Yukon Quest, Lance and 13 of his 16 
dogs that completed the Yukon Quest race started the Iditarod Sled Dog 
Race. This race starts in Willow, AK and ends in Nome, AK, and is 1,100 
miles long. The Iditarod trail originally started out as a supply route 
to numerous remote Alaska communities, including Nome. On March 13, 
2007, Lance Mackey and his team completed this race in 9 days, 5 hours 
and 8 minutes.
  Both of these races travel through numerous small, rural Alaska 
villages but most of the trails pass through nothing but pure 
wilderness. Lance and his fellow mushers had to race through blizzards, 
temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero, wind gusts up to 60 miles 
per hour, water overflows from partially frozen rivers and very rough 
terrain. Accidents due to terrain, trail conditions and other factors 
are not unusual. Occasionally, a moose will attack dog teams and 
mushers. Of course, these elements add additional challenges to these 
already arduous races. In fact, 21 mushers ``scratched''--or withdrew--
from the Iditarod this year.
  As a throat cancer survivor, Lance has to always drink water after 
eating since his salivary glands were removed during cancer treatment. 
However, Lance Mackey continued to pursue victory and almost entirely 
shunned food and drink for the last 219 miles of the Iditarod in order 
to save time. In addition to that, he suffered from frostbite as he 
made his way to the finish line.
  The conventional wisdom is that the same musher could not win both 
sled dog races in the same year. This year, Lance Mackey proved 
everyone wrong. We are proud of Lance and his dog team for this 
unprecedented achievement. Once again, I congratulate Lance Mackey and 
his dog team and wish them continued success.

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