1983 Iditarod champion Rick Mackey dies at 71
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Iditarod champion Rick Mackey died Monday following a 19-month battle with cancer, according to his family. He was 71 years old.
A Facebook post shared by daughter Brenda Mackey expressed grief at the loss, but found comfort that the loss came tied to a family tradition — the number 13, the bib number Mackeys always seemed to draw for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Besides Rick — who wore bib No. 13 in his 1983 championship run — his father, Dick, and brother, Lance, also found success with the number. Dick and Lance wore bib No. 13 in their respective 1978 and 2007 championship runs.
“Last night our family lost my dad to his 19 month battle with cancer. May 13th. I knew it would be the 13th. I felt it on Saturday and upset grandpa saying so, but it was his number, grandpa’s number, uncle Lance’s number. A special number in our family. Grandpa said that finalizes the number in our family,” the post read.
The post went on to say Mackey had been in pain for several months from cancer that had, by the time of his death, spread to his bones and spinal cord.
Rick was diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer — small cell lung cancer — just two weeks after Lance Mackey died from complications of cancer.
“He really fought and fought to stay alive this last week ... it was extremely sad,” Mackey said. “He wanted more chemo but they couldn’t give it to him because his body was too weak at that point.”
His daughter says he was surrounded by loved ones in the week leading up to his passing, all telling him stories and adventures. She says his wife, Patti, was constantly by his side and holding his hand.
He was described as a mix of “real serious and goofy at the same time”, with everyone loving his laughter.
Rick was the first in his family to run a dogsled race at the age of 6, which influenced the rest of his family to start doing sprint races.
Throughout his life, Mackey ran the Iditarod in four different decades, completing a total of 22 races. He’s one of only six mushers to win the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. He also ran four Yukon Quests, 26 1,000-mile races, won two Kuskokwim 300s, and won several Humanitarian and fastest time from Safety to Nome awards during the Iditarod.
“He loved the Iditarod, he loved racing, he thought it was so much fun,” Mackey said. “He really enjoyed every aspect of it, it just really brought him a lot of joy, to run in the Iditarod and the sled dogs.”
Mackey had a mushing style of thinking in the moment and not having a plan, but feeling trail conditions and the dogs, which inspired his family and others. He was a careful and conservative musher, always putting his dogs first.
Mackey was known for playing tricks when on the Iditarod trail, his daughter saying one year he left bunny boots in a cabin so everyone thought he was still there and hadn’t left yet. It was before trackers were introduced to the sport.
“I think it’s really important to honor these mushers and talk about their history as time goes on,” Mackey said. “They’re the backbone of the entire history of the sport.”
The Iditarod’s website says Rick Mackey was born May 1, 1953, in Concord, New Hampshire, and joined his father, Dick, in Alaska by 1959, later helping to train for the first run of the Iditarod. He won the 1983 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and enjoyed hitting the trails with his team alongside his father Dick and brothers Jason and Lance. Rick was married to his wife Patty for more than 40 years and was the father to daughter Brenda and son Roland.
“It’s unimaginable to think of him being gone,” Brenda’s post read. “We’ve had almost 2 years of anticipatory grief, but like my grandpa said it doesn’t really help soften it.”
Brenda and her family have received an outpouring of messages noting ways Mackey touched and impacted their lives.
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