Dogsled.com: Mushing news, Iditarod, Yukon Quest, sled dog events

Nenana, Alaska

Rick Mackey was born in Concord, New Hampshire in 1953 and moved with his family to Alaska in 1959. He began racing sled dogs in 1964 and was the Anchorage junior champion for many years. Rick has been involved with the Iditarod since its beginning, helping his father, Dick Mackey, prepare for that first race in 1973.

In 1975, Rick and his wife put their first team in the Iditarod and Rick placed 13th. In 1978, Rick and Patti were expecting their first child and Rick spent that winter helping his father train the team which went on to win the Iditarod that year. In 1983, Rick won the Iditarod wearing bib #13. Coincidentally, his dad had also won racing his sixth time wearing bib #13.

Rick's Iditarod history includes 11 top 10 finishes. In 1996, when Rick and Patti were expecting their second child, Rick decided to try a new adventure - the Yukon Quest, finishing second that year, first the following year and third in his third Yukon Quest.

Rick had always planned on returning to the Iditarod and the last year of the nineties seemed a good year to do just that. With a team of dogs on their first Iditarod, but with a lot of race experience, Rick had a terrific race, placing 16th in his nineteenth Iditarod and winning the Leonhard Seppala Award presented by Alaska Airlines, an accomplishment he is very proud of.

Last year's Iditarod gave Rick a chance to renew old friendships and make new ones. He says he is glad to be back. The year 2000 will mark Rick's 20th Iditarod and he will be there with a prime dog team, ready for a top place finish. Rick is an accomplished racer, having raced and won many different races and many awards in racing.

Rick and Patti have two children, Brenda, 21, an experienced musher who ran the 1998 Yukon Quest, and Roland, 3, "future sled dog racer." Rick, a professional sled dog racer and occasional tour guide says, "It is an honor to have known Joe Redington Sr. and I am proud to have called him a close friend. I thank him for creating "The Last Great Race," the Iditarod.

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