Most observers believed Tuesday that Lance Mackey's lead out of the Safety checkpoint was too big for Hans Gatt and Jeff King to overcome. The thinking was that Mackey would defend his lead to the finish, and Gatt would be a close second. There just wasn't enough trail to the finish to catch Mackey on the way to Nome. The predictions were right.

As in years past, Mackey came from behind to take the lead. Mackey's gutsy gamble, a long run off the Yukon River to Unalakleet, was the strategic move that vaulted him past Jeff King and Gatt. Mackey secured a nice two to three hour buffer, and King and Gatt, could never match Mackey to regain the time. With this victory, Lance Mackey becomes the Mushing Kingdom's most dominant competitor. The late Susan Butcher and Doug Swingley each won three Iditarods in a row, but Lance's fourth-straight victory is simply historic.

Reflecting on this hard-fought race, insiders note that four of the six top finishers also represent the top finishers of the Yukon Quest. Hans Gatt won the 900-mile Yukon Quest on Feb. 15, followed by Lance Mackey, Hugh Neff, and Ken Anderson. Zack Steer and Sonny Lindner ran in the front of the Iditarod pack and raced the Yukon Quest this year. Five years ago, every reasonable mushing pundit in Alaska would have bet that it was impossible to place well in both of the famous long-distance sled dog races in Alaska. In fact, many regarded Lance Mackey's victory in the 2007 Yukon Quest and 2007 Iditarod as a fluke. Of course, he proved them wrong when he did it again in 2008.

In the present year it seems almost a prerequisite to race a couple of thousand miles in a month if you want to be competitive. Mackey and Gatt raced hard in the Yukon Quest, and we now see them again in the Iditarod. For both musher and dogs, continuous trail miles and wilderness obstacles produce an undeniable, flinty resilience. Mushers and observers who have criticized Mackey for his non-stop schedule of racing will have to rethink their reasoning. Over time, Lance Mackey may well be regarded as the most successful and innovative musher ever.

Mackey has more reasons than many to be relaxing this week on a couch preparing for the NCAA basketball finals. Medically compromised by cancer in 2001, Mackey's fans know that he functions without salivary glands, must continuously moisten his mouth with an always available water bottle, constantly ignores pain in his hands and feet, fights to gain weight in the same way most of us try to lose weight, needs a knee replacement later this year, and is always vigilant not to disturb the surgical reconstruction on his neck. Because of poor circulation in his hands and feet (effects of radiation) he probably will have to deal with some serious frostbite following his finish in Nome. Through it all, Mackey claims he is doing what he loves to do -- driving dogs.