Source – A positive drug test for methamphetamine has disqualified veteran dog musher Lance Mackey from the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, according to a message that race organizers sent to sponsors early Thursday. Mackey’s 21st place finish in this year’s race will be vacated after the positive test from a sample collected in White Mountain, the Iditarod statement says. Mackey finished the race, his 16th Iditarod, in Nome on March 19. Mackey is a four-time Iditarod champion, from 2007 to 2010, and a four-time Yukon Quest champion, from 2006 to 2009. He’s also the only musher to have won both of the 1,000-mile races the same year, in 2007 and 2008.
In the Iditarod’s written statement, Mackey said he planned to go into treatment. “I’m tired of lying to myself, friends, family, and fans, who have all supported me, rooted for me, or been inspired by me. I apologize to all of you,” Mackey said. “The truth is that I need professional help with my latest life challenge. I am in the process of making arrangements to go to a treatment center where I can get the professional help and real change I need. I’m ready to confront this with all of my focus and determination.”
Mackey did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has spoken openly in the past about heavy drug and alcohol use earlier in his life, mostly cocaine and whisky. The Iditarod has tested sled dogs for drugs since 1994 and instituted drug testing for mushers during the race in 2010. The decision by the Iditarod Trail Committee to test mushers came after a complaint about musher drug use from the Iditarod Official Finishers Club.
At the time, Mackey was the most vocal musher in pushing back against the testing, claiming he had been singled out because of his use of marijuana, as a cancer survivor, for pain management. The first Iditarod disqualification for drug use came in 2012, when 38th place finisher Matt Giblin tested positive for marijuana.
The Iditarod is a world famous annual race in which dog sled teams compete to see which one can cover a course across the frozen Alaska tundra the fastest. It’s a grueling competition that forces competitors to overcome dangers and challenges from extreme terrain, harsh weather, and physical and mental fatigue. Before reading this story, I had no idea that the people (or dogs) involved in the race were tested for drugs, but upon thinking about it the idea makes perfect sense. If performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) can provide even the slightest edge someone might try to use them to cheat so it’s prudent to look out for this.
However, what did surprise me was that meth is being used as a “performance enhancing drug”. My first thought when I heard an Iditarod racer was caught using PED’s was, “Adderall! Dude is probably taking adderall to try to stay awake amidst the boredom of looking at nothing but ice, snow, and dog butts for hours on end. Just trying to get a bit of an edge to stay locked in to make more actuate turns on the course to shave precious seconds from his time. So, adderall, while not great, totally makes sense to me. But meth? Meth is a very different and incredibly destructive beast.
Let’s briefly compare the differences between meth and adderall. Adderall helps people get through dental school. Meth causes people to have to visit a dentist to replace the teeth it rotted out. Adderall helps people focus on studying long enough to become a dermatologist. Meth causes facial scars that even the best dermatologist would be at a loss to fix. Adderall helps people think up ways to create the next disruptive technology that will change the world. Meth labs cause disruption by exploding and killing people… I think you get the idea.
Anyway, someone should tell Lance that he’s not competing to have the fewest teeth in the race. He’s competing for the lowest time in the race! At least he got caught so he can get some help because he clearly needs it. Dude pretty much jumped right off that sled and into rehab as he should have due to his past and current episodes of hard drug use. No wonder Lance was the most vocal critic of drug testing human participants when that was rolled out!
Also, how crazy is it that drug testing of human participants didn’t start until 2010?!?!
It’s not at all surprising that tests are coming back positive. I mean, it might take some chemical encouragement to enter a mindset where doing the Iditarod seems like the highest and best use of one’s time. Far be it from me to judge, but it would seem that anyone who volunteers to stand on a sled for days on end while enduring sub zero temperatures and beating a pack of domesticated wolves down a patch of snow and ice would absolutely be a person who should be drug tested. Hopefully, Lance get’s the help he needs and maybe someone will start a Go-Fund-Me to car for his dogs while he’s away getting cleaned up.