Ex-coach to compete in his first 250-mile sled-dog race

FORT KENT – Larry Murphy, a Fort Kent father, grandfather, and elementary school assistant principal, is running his first Can-Am 250-mile sled dog race Saturday with a goal of just reaching the finish line in the classic.

It’s Murphy’s first major race, although he has run several 60- and 100-mile races in the last year. He has been in the sport just over two years. He hopes to be a contender in 2003, after gleaning the experience this year.

Murphy, 50, comes to the sport after 25 years of coaching basketball and soccer at the elementary, high school and college levels. He brings the competitive spirit of a life of athletics to the sport of sled-dog racing.

“The first time I got on a sled behind some dogs it scared the hell out of me,” he said Thursday. “I wanted to do it again, and here I am two years later.

“This is my first real major venture, and the 250-mile race is a new world for me,” Murphy said with his normal gusto. “In two years, I’ve gone from helping Steve Kennedy with his dogs to running a 250-mile race.”

There’s only 24 hours to the start of the 10th Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race, and the weather, as it has several times in the past, has come through for organizers of the longest sled dog race in eastern North America.

Seven to 12 inches of new snow was dumped in areas of the 250-mile race Wednesday night. Trail groomers were out in force on Thursday making final preparations on the trails for all three races in the competition.

Murphy still laughs remembering his first mushing experience. The family had been hosts to mushers who had come to Fort Kent for the annual race. Before the mushers left town, Murphy asked for a ride, thinking he would be sitting in the basket of the sled.

Instead, the musher hitched up two teams and passed one over to Murphy.

He was hooked. Now he has 20 sled dogs around his home and works them every day. This year they have more than 1,000 miles in training runs.

From his 20 dogs he has 12 adults ready for this year’s race. Six more will be ready next year and some the year after.

After a quarter century in school athletics, Murphy said he doesn’t actually have the time to miss it. He devotes his time to his dogs.

“This year will be a journey, and next year I will be in the race,” he said. “I hope to learn the ins and outs, and I will be watching the veterans to learn from them.

“This will be valuable experience for when I have a better team, and we can be more aggressive,” he said. “I will pay attention to the experience out there, and see what I can learn.”

He admits that some people say he’s to competitive to lay back and watch it go by. He could become aggressive as the race goes on.

Two of his lead dogs – Silma a 7-year-old he bought in Michigan, and Peggy, a 5-year-old female – have already finished past Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Race with other mushers.

Like he always is, Murphy said he is in good shape, and so are his dogs. He said his team has done well in training.

Until a week ago the Can-Am Crown was a sellout for mushers. Each of the three races had their 30 teams. However, the rescheduling of the 20th 400-mile John Beargrease Sled Dog Race in Duluth, Minn., to the same weekend as the Can-Am saw some mushers dropping out.

Rita Cannan, chairwoman of the Can-Am Crown race, said the Michigan race is closer for many mushers, and its also a richer race. Seven mushers have dropped out of the Fort Kent race.

The 30- and 60-mile races have their full complement of 30 teams. The 250-mile classic has 25 teams.

“We have plenty of snow and the trails are beautiful,” Cannan said Friday. “Mushers have started arriving in town, and some are actually training on our training loop.

“We expect many more teams by the end of the day,” she said Thursday afternoon. “We are fortunate because of the weather the last 24 hours brought, and they are announcing colder weather through the weekend.”

The races start at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. The 60-mile and 250-mile races both start on Main Street. Teams leave at two-minute intervals. The 30-mile race starts and finishes at the Lonesome Pine Trails Lodge. The other two races also finish at the lodge.

Mushers are vying for $40,000 in purses in the three races.