4-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey announces new cancer diagnosis via Facebook

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Legendary sled dog racer Lance Mackey announced on Facebook Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with cancer again.

In that same post, the four-time Iditarod champion reached out to the mushing community to see if any competitive racers would be interested in taking on some of his top dogs this year.

“I have 8-10 dogs that deserve to race in a top team and 12 more that want to win — this season,” Mackey wrote.

The sled dog champion cited his recent diagnosis along with “being a single father” both as reasons why he won’t be able to race this year.

In a subsequent post, Mackey said, “I have every intention to race again, just won’t be this season.”

This is Mackey’s second bout with cancer. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001 and underwent both surgery and radiation therapy.

That was before an overlapping stretch of dominance in the sport of mushing where Mackey won four consecutive Yukon Quest races (2005-2008) and four consecutive Iditarod races (2007-2010).

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