DAWSON CITY Lance Mackey crossed the finish line here at 8:29 Tuesday evening and won the 2006 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

'I should have been here hours ago,' said the 35-year-old Mackey, who also triumphed in last year's Quest.

Quest officials had been expecting him to arrive into Dawson by about 2 p.m. Tuesday. Mackey had also hoped to complete the 159 kilometres between the Scroggie Creek checkpoint and the finish in about 12 hours.

But a wrong turn on the trail took him at least three hours off-course and made his first-place win a surprise.

'I really thought I'd blew it. I thought I'd be here third,' said Mackey, of Kasilof, Alaska.

He got off the trail and travelled down Hunker Creek Road after missing a trail marker. The small trail looked like a plowed road with a snow machine track going down it, he said.

It wasn't until he reached someone's house, looped around and began travelling back did he realize he'd gone the wrong way.

'I never really paid attention to that before. We were on a nice plowed road that I assumed just kept going through. It did. It went right around this guy's house,' he said.

'There's got to be about 4,000 acres down there and I seen every one of them.'

When Mackey realized his error, he said, he just about 'cried like a little baby.'

'Everything that I'd work(ed) for in this race, trying to get a lead or whatever, was gone. I started apologizing to the dogs, telling them that it wasn't their fault.'

Mackey's leader, Larry, had tried to keep him on the trail, but the now two-time champion told them to go down the unmarked road.

'Needless to say, I was a little bit p.o.ed at myself,' said Mackey. 'I didn't listen to my leader. He knew obviously better than I.'

Mackey completed the Quest in a record 10 days, seven hours and 47 minutes. It breaks Frank Turner's 1995 record of 10 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes.

But this year's trail was approximately 88 km shorter than its usual 1,600 km.

Some, however, are arguing the route change, which took mushers out to Pelly Crossing and then required them to return back through the Black Hills and over the 1,200-metre (4,002-foot) King Solomon's Dome, was more challenging than previous years.

Mackey is the second person in the Quest's history to win the race two times consecutively. The only other musher to do it is Hans Gatt, who finished this year's race at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday.

Mackey said he thought Gatt might beat him when the three-time champion arrived into the final checkpoint 45 minutes ahead of him.

Mackey had stopped on the trail between Pelly Crossing and Scroggie Creek to give his dogs eight hours' rest. He'd decided no matter what, he was going to let his dogs have the full rest period.

He stuck by the decision, not packing up his camp, even as he watched Gatt and William Kleedehn race by him.

Even though Mackey arrived into the checkpoint at Scroggie behind Gatt, he left the checkpoint after the mandatory eight-hour layover at 2:45 a.m. Monday. Gatt didn't leave until 6 a.m.

Mackey didn't believe Gatt when he said he planned to rest his dogs in Scroggie Creek for about 14 hours before running to the finish line.

He said he figured he'd end up having to race Gatt all the way to Dawson and run a foot race to the finish chute.

'I was a little bit nervous there. I thought maybe I'd blew it again,' he said. 'Chances are (Gatt) could leave at eight hours and probably out-march me to the finish line.

'But (Gatt) was actually telling me the truth. It helped me on this last little brain-fart I had.'

The win over Gatt and Kleedehn, who placed third, will also end any questions people had of 2005's win, said Mackey.

'It basically answered all the unanswered questions and the B.S. I heard about last year, you know, Hans (Gatt) wasn't here I got lucky, all that,' said Mackey.

'These guys are world-class competitors with world-class dog teams in front of them, so I feel really good to be in front of them.'

Mackey's father, Dick, a legendary Iditarod musher, agreed.

'It wasn't just rookie luck, he did it again,' said Dick. 'William (Kleedehn) and Hans (Gatt) are just awesome competitors, so it's a feat to have beaten them.'

Dick described watching his son win for the second time as 'emotional' and 'very special.'

'You got to feel sorry for the other two guys, but all's well that ends well,' said Dick.

The win has only inspired Mackey to keep on running the Quest, which began in 1984.

'I didn't know they got better each time. I'm looking forward to a few more,' he said.

Mackey will now go home to prepare to run the Iditarod, which goes from Anchorage to Nome, in March.