Fort Kent prepares for Can-Am racing

Most years, the Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Races take lead billing in Fort Kent as the town and surrounding communities embrace the event and a festival atmosphere prevails.

This year, with all the talk about the World Cup biathlon that will be in Fort Kent in early March, the Can-Am Crown’s billing may have slipped a bit.

With that said, when the dogs head to town on Friday … and when they trot down Main Street on Saturday morning … it’s a good bet a large crowd will gather to cheer them on.

Mushers have a choice at the Can-Am Crown, with races staged at 30-, 60-, and 250-mile distances.

This year’s 12th edition of the Can-Am Crown races kicks off at 8 a.m. on Saturday, as racers in the Local Sponsors Can-Am 60-miler head into the woods.

The racers in the Can-Am 30, which is sponsored by Pepsi Bottling of Aroostook and Budweiser, start at 9 a.m., while the racers in the marquee event – the Key Bank Can-Am Crown 250 – leave one at a time beginning at 10 a.m.

In last year’s Can-Am Crown 250, Bruce Langmaid, a 45-year-old from Blackstock, Ontario, led for the final 100 miles of the race and completed the grueling wilderness trek with nine dogs. Langmaid arrived at Lonesome Pine Trails – the race’s finish line – at 6:15 a.m. on Monday, a little less than two full days on the trail.

Boyd Wilson of McArthur’s Mills, Ontario, finished about three hours later, while Stephane Duplessis of St.-Zenon, Quebec, trailed Wilson by five minutes.

Spectators won’t have to wait two days for excitement, however. Finishers in the 30- and 60-mile races will arrive back in Fort Kent in the afternoon … and those willing to drive have the option of driving to Portage Lake and watching the mushers in the Can-Am 250 arrive at their first checkpoint.

In last year’s 30-miler, Anny Malo of St.-Zenon, Quebec, was dominant, averaging 11.70 mph with her six-dog team. She finished the course in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 58 seconds, and took home $1,200 for the effort.

In the 60-miler, Marcel Drouin of Embrun, Ontario, finished in 6:11:37 to win his second straight title.