Aili, Hibbs vie to capture race Warm weather slows down dogs

FORT KENT – Keith Aili threw the bloody bag of raw meat on the wet snow at his feet and in an unlikely public display, the quiet man vented.

Can-Am Crown 250 “It’s not even frozen,”: the Minnesotan groaned. Then Aili wondered softly how he was supposed to offer his dogs the liquidy mess.

With temperatures in the 30s Saturday, the start of the eighth annual Can-Am Crown 250 Mile Dog Sled Race course was a mess but, like Aili’s own race, not at all forsaken.

Aili made his debut in the Can-Am race last year and, before he could give two-time winner and course record-holder Don Hibbs a true race to the end, Aili dropped out, weak from the flu. Having defeated Hibbs two weeks ago in the Upper Peninsula 200 in Marquette, Mich., Aili drove to Fort Kent for this weekend’s contest to finish what he set out to do last year.

So the new version of this storybook event continues. Aili, the sport’s young, accomplished warrior against Maine’s old hero. This year, the battle has been just as unpredictable.

After stopping at the first check point Saturday – on a course that had been rerouted around Portage Lake onto a firmer trail – Aili’s time was roughly seven minutes ahead of Hibbs, but he was smiling like a victor despite his dog’s soggy food. Both he and his friendly rival said the damage might have already been done only 55 miles into the race.

“I think I haven’t got as strong a team as the one over there,” Hibbs said with a look toward Aili. “He will be hard to beat.” To the casual followers of the Aroostook County event that again has drawn the likes of Iditarod king Terry Adkins of Montana, one-time winner Martin Massicotta of Quebec, and some eccentric characters like Boston Pops celebrity mark Cantrell, Aili is just another Midwestern musher. Hibbs is the Millinocket master who shattered the record last year and Quebec’s Andre Nadeau is the four-time winner who can never be overlooked.

Then there is the regular mix of Mainers from Fort Kent’s own Steve Kennedy to Barry Dana of Solon, who has skijored the race twice, to the father-son tag team of Stephen and John Hessert of Cumberland.

Yet Aili is, quite simply, what the Fort Kent race has become.

At 25, he has won the Upper Peninsula 200 three times, placed second at the Beargrease 500 in his home state, and placed fifth against some of the world’s top mushers in Minnesota’s Grand Portage Passage 280-mile race. Needless to say, not finishing a race is not Aili.

“I wanted to win the UP this year, just because the odds of winning it three times were uncertain. And I want to win this race,” Aili said with a flash of the intensity his soft demeanor hides.

With three stronger dogs added to his winning UP team, Aili felt early on that unless some accident occurred, there was no reason his dogs would slow. He has trained them for these slow conditions, he explained by having them run frozen hills in Minnesota, strengthening and hardening their muscles.

Aili’s dogs are very fast, he promised, but they have power too.

Yet Saturday it was early – even on a slow course – to crown Aili Can-Am king.

“The race is not over,” the French-speaking Nadeau said, offering the only English phrase he needed to describe his view of things in this sport made up of variables and emotion.

As it was, an accident before the fourth and final check point in Allagash did occur. When one of Aili’s dogs dropped, he fell 30 minutes behind Hibbs. Drivers can leave lame dogs at check points, but if they fall during the race, they must carry them. Aili was forced to carry one of his for 3 1/2 hours.

“He’s one of my older dogs. I know him well. He didn’t show it in his gate,” Aili said. “Usually there is a gait change before they go down.

But his desire to stay there was strong. If it were 15 minutes, I’d bust my ass trying to catch Hibbs. Now I won’t push them too much if I’m not going to catch him. But I want to stay in front of Andre. ” By Sunday evening, Hibbs was predicted to finish before 2 a.m. Monday, with Aili 30 minutes back, and Nadeau as far behind Aili. The sudden turn of events had Hibbs joking and chatting easily at Allagash. He was in command and said so – but not without paying heed to the unknown variables.

My team’s running well. But anything can happen,” Hibbs said. “What happened to Aili happened to me two weeks ago. Carrying a dog is catastrophic.” The warm, weary conditions early on had already tested some and broken others. Before Sunday afternoon, five had scratched in the 16-driver field. Massicotta was not far into the race when the wooden leg on his sled broke. He had brought another, but one not as fast.

“Nooooo. More slow,” Massicotta said. “Two years ago, win. Last year, finish third. But my sled. Very bad for me.”