Outdoors/Adventure

Video: Sneak peek at Lance Mackey documentary

Greg Kohs' independently produced documentary follows four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey along the 2013 trail, where he went on to place 19th. It also traces back to his early life, with family interviews, including dad and 1978 Iditarod champion Dick Mackey, along with his hard-scrabble rise over the years to becoming a legendary dog musher.

Kohs said the family relationship drew him to the story, and he believes it will resonate with viewers unfamiliar with Mackey. Kohs first worked with Mackey years earlier when he did a short film for the Livestrong Foundation on Mackey overcoming cancer.

He said they had full access to the musher, though at times working with his schedule -- which is notoriously fluid -- proved difficult. In an effort to follow Mackey along the trail, Kohs chartered a fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter to reach remote areas.

Being able to get to those portions of the trail gave Kohs a sense of what the race is really like and the inspiration for the film's title.

"It felt like 'Lawrence of Arabia' out there," Kohs said. "A desert of snow, and he was this figure out there going across it. It felt right."

An Anchorage showing is scheduled for March 4 at the Bear ToothTheatrepub,

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