FORT KENT – The reputation and traditions of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races held in Maine’s farthest northern reaches have gained tremendously over 13 years.

The attributes spell success for the three races, a 250-mile classic, a mid-range 60-mile race and a short 30-mile race, held each year at Fort Kent during the first weekend in March.

Ninety teams have signed up for the three races, the maximum allowed by the governing committee, and there is a waiting list of 17 more teams that want to participate.

The 30-team maximum for the Irving Woodlands Can-Am 250, also known as the CAC250 or the 250-mile race, has been filled since last fall. Seven teams are waiting to get in on the action is someone falters.

The Willard Jalbert Jr. Can-Am 60 is also filled with a waiting list of six teams, and the Pepsi-Budweiser Can-Am 30 is filled with four teams in the wings.

The $40,000 in purses will be up for grabs when the teams head out along Main Street starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 4.

The Irving Woodlands Can-Am 250 is a qualifying race for both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest 1,000-plus-miles races held in Alaska and the Yukon Territory each year.

The distance, terrain and variable weather of northern Maine makes the Can-Am Crown 250-mile race a challenging endeavor.

This is the second year that 90 teams will have competed in the event. Competition has come a long way from the first race in 1993, when nine teams competed for the $10,000 purse.

“Sponsorship has increased, all three races are full, and others are waiting,” Rita Cannan, president of Can-Am Crown Inc., said Sunday. “We have plenty of snow.

“The 250 has been full since Sept. 1,” she said. “That’s something we have never seen. We don’t know why, but we are gaining popularity each year.”

The snow that has come since Christmas – one storm dumping between 39 and 42 inches across the trail that meanders through the woods from Fort Kent to the Quebec border and back – has created a lot of work for the Trail Committee headed by Peter Sirois.

“It’s a challenge,” Cannan said. “Peter is tremendous and he and his crew always come through.

“I don’t need to worry about that,” she said.

Martin Massicotte, a 37-year-old contractor from St. Tite, Quebec, will be looking for his fourth title this year. He won the race in 1998, 2002 and 2005. He will be looking to match the four wins of his mushing mentor, Andre Nadeau, another Quebec musher, who has won four times. Massicotte has also come in second one year and came in third two other years.

Keith Aili, 31, of Ray, Minn., will be looking for his second title.

Bruce Langmaid, 47, a kennel owner from Blackstock, Ontario, and a two-time winner of the Can-Am 250, is on a waiting list for the 250-mile race. He is registered for the 60-mile race and is still hoping for another chance in the big race.

Don Hibbs of Millinockett and Nadeau, the two other men who have won the 250-mile race, are not registered. Hibbs won the race three times in 1997, 1999 and 2000.

Cannan said mushers started to register for the 250-mile race on the day of the mushers banquet last March. Many, including several newcomers, were quick to get their names and their money in.

The first to register was Robert Fredette, a 41-year-old dairy farmer from Plantagenet, Ontario. He has run the 250 mile race three times.