Crossing paths in the IditaQuest

In this years running of the 1000 mile Yukon Quest dogsled race, Ken Anderson and Lance Mackey have been trading places at the front of the pack since early on in the race. They have crossed paths on the trail, at the dog drops and at the checkpoints. This isn't the first time their paths have crossed and it may not be the last as both are likely to contend for top spots in next month's Iditarod race.

Anderson and Mackey have been next door neighbors in Fox Alaska ever since Mackey relocated his family and dogs there in the summer of 2006. They use the same trails to train on, and frequently cross paths. They crossed paths before as young adults when Anderson moved in next to Dick Mackey's home when son Lance was still home in the mid 90s, and the two of them found similar interests. Once again, they find their interests are aligned. Mackey would like to repeat his stunning feat from last year when he won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod and coined the phrase Iditaquest. Anderson believes he is every bit as capable as Mackey to pull off the Iditaquest victory.

Anderson is no stranger to mushing growing up in Minnesota where his parents took him a on a dogsled ride in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in sub zero temperatures when Ken was still in diapers. Later, he would work as a handler for Arleigh Jorgensen where he met his future wife Gwen Holdmann who also handled dogs for Jorgensen. They decide to move to Alaska to "live the dream".

Ken ran his first Iditarod in 1999 and finished a respectable 26th. He had a top 10 finish in 2003 (5th) and 2007 (7th), but he hopes to do better this year following a strategy that was successful for Mackey last year in racing both the Quest and the Iditarod. Anderson likes to use smaller dogs and females since they eat less and are less prone to injury at the expense of raw power. This seems to be holding true in the Yukon Quest where his team is faster on the flats, and Mackey's is faster on the hills.