Second only to Tiger Woods

Mackey #2 on Sports Illustrated's List of Top 25 Toughest Athletes!

The incredible Lance Mackey is once again basking in the sports limelight with a very distinctive honor. Last year, Mackey was one of the elite nominees for the highly-coveted ESPY Award. Last week, Sports Illustrated released its list of the Top 25 Toughest Athletes—Mackey placed second behind Tiger Woods. Here's what SI had to say about the 2008 Iditarod Champion:

Lance Mackey: What makes him tough: Caginess and steadfast refusal to quit in the face of throat cancer (2001), hostile terrain and 40-below temperatures. He did the impossible in sled dog racing — win the 1,000- mile Yukon Quest and 1,100-mile Iditarod within a month — not once, but in two straight years, most recently this year on frostbitten feet that hadn't fully healed after the Quest.

Defining moment: Held off four-time winner Jeff King in the 2008 Iditarod by eschewing sleep and sneaking out of their lodging while his pursuer dozed to grab an insurmountable 54-minute lead in the final grueling climb on the coast of the Bering Sea.

Old school match: Dick Mackey. Lance's father helped found the Iditarod and is the only musher to win the race in a photo finish (1978).

Read more about the Top 25 on the Sports Illustrated website.

Katmai Bear Viewing... with Martin Buser!

Bid now for an unforgettable two day, one night Bear Viewing and Fishing Getaway for 4—hosted by four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser in Katmai National Park!

Spend your first day viewing brown bears fish for migrating Sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls with none other than four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser and his wife, Kathy Chapaton. Just a one-mile hike from the lodge, the falls are a gathering place for as many as fifteen bears.

After a day at the falls, fly to King Salmon for an overnight stay and a fishing excursion the following day. You and your three guests will be flown back to Anchorage that evening.

Your trip includes: Roundtrip airfare for four people from Anchorage to King Salmon, a roundtrip floatplane flight to Brooks Lodge, an overnight stay for four in King Salmon, and a fishing trip for four in the King Salmon area. Place your bid soon, the auction closes on April 18th!

Attention Iditarod Trail Committee Members!

The 2008 Post Race E-Runner will be coming your way via email on April 25th. This exclusive publication is published five times throughout the year leading up to the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Become a member.