FORT KENT – Thousands of people lined Main Street on Saturday, braving intense cold for the start of the ninth annual Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races.

A record number of mushers participated in the biggest sled dog race in the East. Seventy-seven mushers, using six to 12 dogs each, hit the trails starting with a half-mile rush down Main Street before heading into the northern Maine woods.

Police Chief Kenneth Michaud said the crowd may have been down from last year because of the cold. At 6 a.m. it was minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Kent. At race time three hours later, the mercury had risen to minus 10 degrees. With a bright sun climbing higher, positive numbers started showing on the KeyBank thermometer sign as the last musher in the MBNA 250-mile race left the starting gate.

“I wanted cold, but not this cold,” said Rita Cannan, president of the Can-Am race board of directors.

“It’s rather cold, but we are warm in our hearts,” said Alain Ouellette, one of two announcers for the starting ceremonies.

“It [the thermometer at the bank] went up 2 degrees,” yelled a woman in the crowd. “It’s a heat wave.”

While it was cold for fans, conditions were ideal for the sled dogs. Midday temperatures were in the low teens as the teams headed for the first checkpoint at Portage Lake.

In traditional fashion, businesspeople catered to the annual event.

“Free coffee inside,” declared a sign on the front door of the Fort Kent Hotel. KeyBank and First Citizens Bank, located on each side of the street at the starting line, offered fans and volunteers free coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts.

The Main Street Irving station, its entrance and driveway blocked off by the racetrack, had a huge sign in its window Friday night. “Closed till after the dog race start,” it declared.

The barking and yelping of the hundreds of dogs, at least 612 of them in a record 75 teams, began early as mushers started getting ready at 7 a.m. for the start. Dogs lined the bank parking lot and ran the length of Meadow Lane.

“The huskies are singing,” announcer Chuck Closser said as he described the scene. “They sing because they are happy and anxious to take to the trails.”

The excited dogs were held back by volunteers at the starting gate. As many as eight volunteers held the dogs until the announcer yelled go, and the musher said “hut” to make the dogs take off.

The only team not needing the volunteers was that of race veteran Andre Nadeau. Once brought to the starting gate, Nadeau’s dogs stood noiselessly in place until Nadeau gave them the familiar “hut.” Then, like the hundreds of others, they strained against the nylon harnesses and took off like speeding cars down the trail.

Fans came from everywhere for the classic race start. They lined the fences at the starting gate, 10 deep in places. They were bundled heavily against the cold.

The cheering of the crowd was like a wave, beginning with fans nearest the starting gate and following the musher as he careened down Main Street. The yells and clapping followed the musher.

Connie Heathcock came to Fort Kent from Brookhaven, Pa., for the races.

“This is cool, literally,” she said. “The races are neat, like nothing I’ve ever seen. I have never been to a sled dog race.”

The fan who came the farthest may have been Carrie Donaldson of Tasmania, Australia. The 28-year-old marketing agent was on her second visit in Maine. She first visited a couple of years ago when she was hosted by Rotary Club International.

“I had never seen a sled dog race, and people told me I should come back here to see this,” she said from near the starting block. “It’s great, and really neat the way the dogs are excited.

“It’s also fantastic seeing what it brings to this small town, all these people having a great time,” Donaldson continued. “I’m really glad I came to see this, something we certainly don’t see in Australia.”

“It’s great and fun,” 6-year-old Kevin Voisine said from his perch on the snow at the edge of the trail. “One dog was jumping up in the air as he went by here.”

It was the youngster’s third time watching the start of the race.

Rep. John Baldacci did his best counting down the last 10 seconds in French to start the first musher on the course, Martin Massicotte of St. Tite, Quebec. Later, Baldacci, like many other politicians at the race, rode aboard mushers’ sleds through town.

In use for the first time at the race this weekend was a timing system purchased, with local donations, by the Community High School Green Bean Ski Team. Peter Pinette was overseeing the $15,000 system purchased just last year.

A personal favorite of the race crowd, Don Hibbs of Millinocket, a three-time winner of the classic 250-mile race, had to scratch his team from competition before the start Saturday morning. Several of his dogs became sick overnight.

The crowd was waiting for Hibbs, who underwent hip surgery during the off-season. Still, he raced last weekend at the Katahdin races in southern Aroostook County.