Several family battles featured during 10th Can-Am sled dog race

FORT KENT – Two teams of husbands and wives and a father- and-son team, all from Maine, will be among the mushers competing against each other and 24 other mushers in the Can-Am Crown’s annual 250-mile sled dog race through the northern Maine woods next weekend.

Ninety teams of mushers, with between six and 12 dogs each, will be on hand for the 10th Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race on the first weekend in March. The sled dog teams will be taking off Saturday morning March 2.

A maximum of 30 teams will participate in three separate races, 30, 60 and 250 miles. All of the slots, except for five in the 60-mile mid-distance race, have been filled. There are waiting lists for the two races that are filled.

The interesting duos in the race are husbands and wives Amy Dugan and John Osmond of Shirley, and Liz Como and Andrew Chakamakos of Lovell. The Maine father-and-son teams are Stephen and John Hessert of Cumberland. There are also two brothers, Robert and Yves Fredettte of Ontario, among the competitors.

The Dugan-Osmond run may not happen, Osmond said Thursday. After a lengthy run on Thursday, he said some dogs were coming up lame, and it may be a problem coming up with two healthy teams.

“One way or another, this is going to be a great race this year, if the snow holds up,” Osmond said. “Hopefully, with a bit of luck, we will both be running.

“We’ve had trouble in training this year with icy trails, not much snow,” Osmond said. “It was much the same in many races, Like the UP [Upper Peninsula] in Michigan.

“If we only have one team in the race Amy may very well be the musher with that team,” he said.

The trails through the northern Maine woods were checked this week, and said to be in excellent shape for the race, called the “Iditarod of the East” by organizers, mushers and fans. It is the longest and most challenging sled dog race in eastern North America, and has become a qualifying race for Alaska’s famed 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race, also held in March each year.

Two former winners, Don Hibbs of Millinocket, who won the race in 1997, 1999 and 2000, and Martin Massicotte of St. Tite, Quebec, who won in 1998, will be among the mushers seeking money from the $40,000 purse for the three races. Keith Aili of Minnesota, the winner in 2001, and four-time winner Andre Nadeau of Quebec, 1993-96, will not be competing.

In the 250-mile race, 10 of the mushers will be from Maine, seven are from Minnesota, four each from Michigan and Quebec, two from Ontario and one each from New Hampshire and New York.

“I could see that we could have more mushers than we could handle because the race has been growing each year,” Rita Cannan, president of the Can-Am board of directors said Wednesday. “The purse is also bigger and that attracts mushers.

“It will be our biggest race ever,” she said. “We will have 90 teams and our previous high was 76 teams last year.

Mushers were told in October about the limit on teams. Many took it seriously because 15 mushers had signed up for the 250-mile race by the end of December, and the roster of 30 was filled by Jan. 20.

An added attraction for finishers of the 250-mile classic is an extra $4,000 that will be divided amongst them

MUSHERS FOR 250-MILE CLASSIC

Steve Kennedy of Wallagrass, Larry Murphy of Fort Kent, Keith Sengbusch of Springbrook, Wis., Trapper Dan Bergerson of Grand Rapids, Mich., Matt Weik of Remer, Mich., Robert Fredette of Plantkgenet, Ontario, Yves Fredette of Plantkgenet, Ont., Mike Johnson of Leroy, Mich., Rita Lensing of Schroeder, Minn., Lloyd Gilbertson of Chatham, Mich., Ward Wallin of Two Harbors, Minn., Kevin Malikowski of Outing, Minn., Vern Schroeder of Warba, Minn., Martin Massicotte of St. Tithe, Quebec, G.R. Anderson of Pine City, Minn., Charles Laboda of Hovland, Minn.;

Bill Matott of Manchester, N.H., John Osmond and Amy Dugan of Shirley, Paul Huska of East Nassau, N.Y., Stephane Duplessis of St. Zenon, Que., Andy Nissley of Sherman Mills, Don Hibbs of Millinocket, Steve Crone of Bethel, Andrew Chakoumakos and Liz Como of Lovell, John and Stephen Hessert of Cumberland, Bruce Langmaid of Blackstock, Ont., Gratien Gendron of St. Adelme, Que. and Daniel Bourassa of Quebec.