Lance Mackey Wins Iditarod!

"They're the best dogs, hands-down," Mackey said.

Don't you love it when someone has the grace to share the credit for doing something truly remarkable?

Lance Mackey, a 37-year-old throat cancer survivor, also won last year's race. His father and brother have both won Iditarods so I guess you could say it's a family tradition in the Mackey household. Some tradition, eh?

In the coming days I'm sure there will be many tales told about life on the 2008 trail. Me? I'll listen to as many as I can and picture it all, saving and savoring the details. The race to commemorate a 1925 run by sled dogs to deliver lifesaving diphtheria serum to Nome is an event that intrigues me. Maybe someday I'll get to see part of the route up close. Until then, I listen and dream.

A full story is here.

Day 8

It's Day 8 of the Iditarod. Run between Nome, on the western Bering Sea coast, and Anchorage, in south central Alaska, the 1150-mile course has been called the "Last Great Race on Earth."

I would have liked to try this. Instead, I watch the video clips and read the news reports. There are also updates from the trail, posted by family members, which are especially interesting.

A real point of interest in this year's race is that DeeDee Jonrowe is the winner of the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway award. The prize comes with $3,000 in gold nuggets. I don't think it's surprising that a woman won the award. What I find interesting is that she had no idea she was in the lead, no clue that she was going to win the award.

Her response when she learned she'd won? She was, understandably, happy and said she hadn't yet bought her husband a birthday gift. She thought gold nuggets might do.

Gold nuggets for a birthday? Nothing to sneeze about, that.

If you've got any interest at all in the race the site to check out is The Official Site of the Iditarod. There are some amazing pictures, first-hand accounts of previous races and all the facts and figures anyone could ask for.