Wild life - the Lance Mackey story

Award-Winning Documentary About One of the World’s Greatest Athletes

The documentary about Lance Mackey has won numerous awards at international film festivals around the world.

Here, you can watch the full film.

— We got to know Lance Mackey in Alaska during the winter when the pandemic broke out. He lived an extraordinary life and was a character of Shakespearean proportions. Sadly, he passed away far too soon, and this film serves as a historical record of his incredible life, says Linda Nordheim, agency director at Maverix.

The World’s Toughest Athlete

Lance Mackey was a race car driver and a family man, but he was best known for winning the legendary wilderness race, the Iditarod, four times. The Iditarod is a grueling dog sled race that spans ten days through Alaska’s rugged wilderness.

After these incredible achievements, he was named the world’s toughest athlete. The race honors Norwegian Leonhard Seppala, who in 1925 covered large parts of this distance to deliver life-saving medicine to the people of Nome during a pandemic.

‍Fought Off a Moose in Anchorage

— We quickly realized that Lance was the most popular dog musher in the U.S. He was simply known as The Legend. Lance always found himself in the most unbelievable situations. The first time I met him, he had to defend himself against an aggressive moose using a kitchen spoon—right in the middle of downtown Anchorage, says director Finn-Erik Rognan.

Discovered a Tumor After a Crash

While the documentary team was following Lance during a car race in Arizona, he was involved in a serious crash. During the subsequent medical examinations, doctors discovered a tumor around his lungs.

— Lance’s life was far from easy, and he faced one tragedy after another. Yet, he always smiled back at life, and that is one of the reasons for his enduring popularity, says Rognan.

Watch the full documentary here: