parte 12 Nome, Alaska (USA)

The arrival in Nome of the two brothers Jason & Lance Mackey of LANCE MACKEY's Comeback Kennel, Inc. (who survived to a terrible throat cancer and is a four time Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion, including two consecutively) was a moment of great emotion. Many of their fellow mushers and spectators wanted sincerely to support Lance after suffering severe frostbite on his left hand and especially for the devastating, unexpected, and unexplained loss of two of his beloved sixteen dogs, as unfortunately can happen to human athletes as well during competition, training or rest.

We all saw Lance cry of desperation despite his younger brother Jason, who relinquished the performance of his team to help his older brother during the entire race, showing a rare quality of brotherhood and solidarity, trying to comfort his brother in every way. The analysis that is underway will establish the causes of the loss of the two dogs, which was not due to any sort of stress, since as a result of the severe frostbite which occurred at the very beginning of race, Lance was forced to make long rest stops to restore the circulation of his hand, allowing plenty of rest time for his dogs. In fact his team arrived in 43rd place out of the 66 teams participating and took well over four days longer than winner Dallas Seavey’s team.

Personally, and together with all those who were able to witness this race with their own eyes, we share completely in the immense suffering of this champion who despite what happened to him has helped two other teams in trouble during the race; a suffering that will most likely lead to his retirement from sled dog racing.

http://www.ktva.com/emotional-finish-for-iditarod-2015-musher-lance-mackey-in-nome-476/