Cancer claims Iditarod champion Rick Mackey. His father and brother also won famed Alaska race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Rick Mackey, the winner of the 1983 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, has died of lung cancer, his daughter told The Associated Press Wednesday. Mackey, who died Monday, was 71.

The Mackey name is closely tied to the history of the Iditarod, the grueling race that takes mushers and their dog teams 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) across the Alaska wilderness to the finish line on the Bering Sea coast. Rick’s father, Dick, won the race in 1978, and his late brother Lance won an unprecedented four straight championships from 2007 through 2010.

Rick Mackey was diagnosed with lung cancer two weeks after his brother died of cancer in September 2022, according to Rick Mackey’s daughter, Brenda Mackey.

All three Mackeys won their first Iditarod in their sixth attempts, and all wore the bib No. 13.

“It felt pretty profound, honestly, that my dad died on (May) 13th,” Brenda Mackey said. “You know, it seemed pretty fitting.”

Very good!（4）