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Four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey in Bismarck for BSC ArtsQuest | Bismarck State College

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Four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey in Bismarck for BSC ArtsQuest

Published: Apr 01 2019
Four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey in Bismarck for BSC ArtsQuest - Photo
Bismarck State College is proud to bring “The Great Alone,” an award-winning, feature-length documentary film that captures the inspiring comeback story of champion sled dog racer Lance Mackey, to Bismarck as part of its 2019 ArtsQuest celebration.
 
Offered in partnership with the Dakota Film Festival, “The Great Alone” will be shown Thursday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at the Belle Mehus Auditorium in downtown, Bismarck. A question and answer session with Mackey himself will follow.
 
Mackey, from Fairbanks, Alaska, is the first in history to win four consecutive Iditarod races – 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. His father Dick Mackey was one of the founders of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and won the event by one second in 1978. Lance’s half-brother Rick Mackey also won the Iditarod 1983. All three of them won the race on their sixth attempt wearing bib number 13.
 
Mackey was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001 but continued sled dog racing. He underwent surgery and radiation and was forced to drop out of the 2002 Iditarod, but not before traveling 350 miles down the trail with a feeding tube in his stomach. He took a full year off to recover from the disease and is now considered cancer-free.
 
From his sunniest days as a boy by his famous father’s side to cancer’s attempt to unseat him, “The Great Alone” pulls viewers along every mile of Mackey’s emotional journey to become one of the greatest dog sled racers of all time. The documentary and Q&A session with Mackey is intended for an audience of all ages and is free and open to the public.
 
Winner of over a dozen awards at film festivals across the world, “The Great Alone” is directed and produced by 10-time Emmy-winning filmmaker Greg Kohs whose uniquely soulful and genuine style of visual storytelling has been sought by clients ranging from Google and Apple to Nike, Mastercard, Disney and many more.