FORT KENT – Nearly 1,000 athlete dogs and some 90 mushers will rush through downtown Saturday morning looking for the heavy forests of northern Maine in the 16th running of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races.

Thirty teams will compete each of three races – 30 miles, 60 miles and the classic Iditarod Sled Dog Race qualifier of 250 miles. They are all vying for their share of a $40,000 purse and bragging rights to the crowns up for grabs.

Teams competing in the 60-mile race will start leaving the Main Street starting gate at 8 a.m. Teams leave the gate at two-minute intervals. Those in the 30-mile run will start leaving at 9 a.m. and the 250-mile competitors will start at 10 a.m.

Crowds of 5,000 people and more have witnessed the high-strung athlete-dogs each year as they jump to the ends of their harnesses at the starting gate until it is their time to leave. The jump out of the gate, rush down a quarter-mile laid-down snow road through the business district before they head out into the wilds.

Businesses, service organizations and sponsors, of which there are more than 50, make a carnival atmosphere of the downtown during the hours of the start. Fans can get souvenirs, coffee, hot chocolate, pastries and lunches outside at the starting line and down the Main Street sidewalk.

Teams in the 30-mile race will start arriving at the Lonesome Pine Trails finish line in mid-afternoon Saturday. The 60-mile teams will arrive in late afternoon and early evening. A mushers banquet for the winners of these races will be held Sunday morning at the Lonesome Pine Trails Lodge on Sunday morning.

The 250-mile race competitors will run through the day Saturday and Sunday and usually start arriving in Fort Kent during the early hours of the morning on Monday. These competitors have checkpoints at Portage Lake; an Irving lumber camp at Rocky Brook, about 40 miles into the woods from Portage Lake; and a second lumber camp, Maibec’s, not far from the Quebec border at St. Pamphile. They then move on on to Two Rivers Lunch at Allagash, the fourth checkpoint before they head for the finish line and the gold at Lonesome Pine Trails.

During the grueling 250-mile run, mushers must take 14 hours of layovers. That includes a five-hour layover at Allagash. The remaining nine hours can be taken at any of the first three checkpoints.

The mushers banquet for the 250-mile race winners will be held Tuesday night at the ski lodge.

Irving Woodlands sponsors the $20,000 purse for the 250-mile race. The winner gets $4,500. The remainder is divided among the next 11 finishers with the 12th-place finisher receiving $600. This race also has stage prizes for the fastest time between checkpoints. The $1,000 stage purses are divided among the top five mushers in each stage with the fastest team getting $300.

Finally, there is a $4,000 Finishing Touch purse divided among all the teams that finish the hard run through the northern Maine forests and mountains.

The Willard Jalbert Memorial 60-mile Race is sponsored by the family.

The purse there is $7,000 with the winner getting $2,000 and the remainder spread out among the next 11 finishers.

The Pepsi-Budweiser Can-Am 30-mile race has a total purse of $4,000 with the winner getting $1,200.

Hundreds of volunteers have been working on the race since the end of the last race in 2007. The race is held each year on the first weekend in March.

Veterinarians check each dog before the start of the races and at checkpoints along the way. Their decisions on the condition of dogs is final. Dogs are checked for injuries, lameness, vital signs, mental attitude and hydration. They also test the animals for drugs during the races.

This year, three former winners, several past contenders, four former mushers in the famed Iditarod and six newcomers are among mushers that will take to the 250-mile trail.

The 30-team lineup has been full since two days after registration opened on Aug. 15. The 30-team lineup is also full for the weekend’s 30- and 60-mile races. Other mushers are on waiting lists for all three races.

Former winners include Millinocket’s Don Hibbs and Martin Massicotte of St. Zenon, Quebec, both three-time winners, and New Hampshire’s Matt Carstens, who won in ’06.

Rita Cannan, a semi-retired businesswoman, is overseeing her 10th race as president of the races held annually since February 1993.

The 250-mile classic has brought in mushers from Montana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Massachusetts and Quebec and Ontario in Canada.

The race can be followed on the race’s Web site. David Hartt and Stan Flagg keep up the site at can-am.sjv.net. The site is sponsored by St. John Valley Communications. Mushers can be followed along the race trail.

Gov. John Baldacci and Sen. Susan Collins are expected to be at Fort Kent for the start of the races Saturday.