The Iditarod always knew how tough two time Champion Lance Mackey was.  After all Lance is the only athlete to win back to back 1000 mile plus championships including the Grandaddy of them all “The Last Great Race on Earth”.  ESPN knew; they nominated Lance twice as for the coveted ESPY Award.  Now the world knows that when the people get a chance to vote (and vote they did) The Toughest Athlete on the Planet is Lance Mackey!

Versus, a media partner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, conducted their Red White Black and Blue (RWBB)  ”Cam Pain” to see just who was the toughest athlete on Earth with 32 contestants.  On September 15th, Lance was neck and neck with just one other competitor “Team Hoyt”, a triathlon duo of father Dick Hoyt and son Rick, who has severe brain damage.

The last few hours of the online competition were a testament to the phenomenal fan base of “Lance fans” that that has grown over the last couple of years. Mackey’s lead  (which was only a few tenths of a percentage point) grew into a more than six point lead at the end of the day!

Lance beat out the likes of Bret Farve and another Lance… Lance Armstrong during the competition, but this was a race he could not have won without the support of Iditarod Race fans from around the globe.  That’s another thing the Iditarod has always known… this race has ”The Greatest Fans in the World.”

Congrats Lance!

– Mushers and Their Sled Dog Teams endure more than a thousand miles of Unforgiving Alaskan Wilderness along the Iditarod Trail in Hopes of Making it Across the Finish Line –

(Wasilla, Alaska) - The Iditarod Trail Committee is proud to announce that the TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD, will premier Tuesday, October 7 at 10 PM ET/PT, on Discovery Channel. The six hour miniseries follows mushers and their sled dog teams across more than a thousand miles of rugged terrain as they take on Mother Nature - and each other - in The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

For TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD, Discovery Channel followed seven mushers and their dog teams - both race rookies and race legends. Mushers featured in Discovery Channel’s new series include:  Four-time Iditarod Champions Jeff King and Martin Buser, Iditarod rookie Rick Holt, pioneering musher and breast cancer survivor DeeDee Jonrowe, two-time Iditarod finisher and diabetic Bruce Linton race rookie Darin Nelson, along with two-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey.

The Iditarod Trail is steeped in history.  It was originally used as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the interior mining camps and eventually all the way to Nome.  Mail and supplies went in and gold came out - powered by sled dog.  Mushers (dog drivers) became legends.  In 1925, part of the trail became a life-saving highway.  Mushers and their dog teams were called upon to bring serum to epidemic-stricken Nome and save the town from Diphtheria that had overtaken it.  The Iditarod is a commemoration of those brave and legendary mushers and their faithful dogs.

TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD is produced for Discovery Channel by Original Productions.  Thom Beers and Phillip Segal are executive producers and Jeff Conroy is co-executive producer.  For Discovery Channel, Paul Gasek is executive producer.

Log on to http://www.iditarod.com/ to take a look at Discovery’s promotional trailer of “THE TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD.”