Free Republic

It was the closest call of the Last Great Race. At the end of the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1978, Dick Mackey edged defending champion Rick Swenson by a single second. Judges ruled Mackey the winner because his dogs crossed the finish line ahead of Swenson's. Over three decades, Swenson would become the race's only five-time winner, while Mackey's sons Rick and Lance added their own championships to the family tree. On Thursday, the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame inducted the photo finish as one of the state's great athletic moments.

Funny how Alaskans always manage to capture the nation's attention when they do or say something silly, but become invisible when they do something remarkable. I'm talking about Lance Mackey and his storybook journey into sports history. His back-to-back victories in the world's longest and gnarliest sled-dog races set a new standard for toughness in Alaska but barely registered a blip Outside. About 18 hours after Mackey had crossed the finish line in Nome to add the Iditarod championship to the Yukon Quest title he won exactly four weeks earlier, I called ESPN Radio in Connecticut to ask if Mackey's...

WHITE MOUNTAIN – Neon-green northern lights splashed across a clear midnight sky, leading Lance Mackey all the way into the second-to-last checkpoint of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race with a historic victory within his reach. “It was beautiful,” Mackey said of the lights. “They were dancing all around the sky.” Those were the only lights Mackey saw since he left Unalakleet nearly 140 miles ago. He arrived here at 1:38 p.m. with 11 dogs who looked strong and spunky but ready for their required eight-hour rest before the final push west.