FORT KENT – Up to $40,000 in prizes are up for grabs by sled dog mushers this weekend in the 11th running of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races.

The annual race is among the largest winter sporting events in Maine.

Mushers will square off Saturday morning in Main Street starts for three races. Mushers with between six and eight dogs competing in the Key Bank 60-mile race will be the first to leave the starting gate at 8 a.m.

They will be followed by five- and six-dog teams competing in the Pepsi/Budweiser 30-mile race at 9 a.m.

At 10 a.m., mushers using 12-dog teams will leave the starting gate for the “Iditarod of the East,” the MBNA 250-mile classic race that will take them through some of Maine’s most foreboding forests.

Mushers run along Main Street for about a quarter-mile before heading into the bush. As many as 5,000 people have watched the race start in some years.

All three races finish at the Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge.

“Things are going really well,” said Rita Canaan, chairman of the Can-Am Crown board of directors. “It looks like we will be missed by a predicted snowstorm, and our trails are superb for the race.”

“We have some people on waiting lists for some of the races,” she continued. “We expect even more people registering before Friday night’s deadline.”

As of Wednesday noon, 79 teams were registered for the three races. The 30-mile race card was full with 30 teams, the 60-mile race had 21 teams registered, and 28 teams were registered for the 250-mile race.

Only 30 teams are allowed in each race.

The leader of the race committee praised the efforts of Peter Sirois and his large crew of volunteers who have been working on the trails. The area has been hit with several snowstorms over the last month, demanding a lot of work to keep the trails in optimum condition.

Instrumental in the race is the volunteerism it spurs. During the weekend of the race, 350 to 400 individuals are involved in myriad jobs. During the year, another 150 individuals are listed as helpers in the effort.

Mushers have been arriving in the St. John Valley border town since Tuesday. Trucks loaded with sled dogs and all their equipment have been spotted on the streets, and mushers have been using a practice trail to work with their dogs.

Past champions of the 250-mile are absent from this year’s competition. Andre Nadeau of Quebec, a four-time champion from 1993 through 1996, is no longer competing. Don Hibbs of Millinocket, champion in 1997, 1999, and 2000, has not registered. Martin Massicotte of Quebec, winner in 1998 and 2002, was in the 1,100-mile Yukon Quest race last week. The only other winner was Keith Aili of Ontario in 2001and he will not be coming.

Mushers have registered from Wyoming, Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. There are also many teams from Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

Three local mushers, John Keleta, John Murphy, and Steve Kennedy, have registered for the 250-mile classic. The only woman in the long race is Tenly Meara from Topsham.

The 250-mile race has several newcomers, including Kirk Aili, brother of the one-time champion.

Stephen Hessert of Cumberland, a musher who has competed several times at Fort Kent along with his son John, was injured two weeks ago when he was struck by a snowmobile and cannot race.

In town, bright banners of red, white, and blue have been heralding the coming of the annual classic for a week. The banner also displays the face, with bright gleaming eyes, of a sled dog. A Mardi Gras celebration that started earlier this week has added to the color of the annual running.

The 250-mile race, an endurance contest for both sled dogs and mushers, is a qualifying race for both the famed Iditarod, an 1,100-mile event in Alaska, and the Yukon Quest, another 1,100-mile race from the Yukon Territories to Alaska. Those races are held in March and February, respectively.

The 250-mile race includes $20,000 in prize money, divided among the top 12 finishers. First place is worth $4,500 and 12th place is $600. There are also five stage purses, $1,000 divided among the three fastest times in each of the five legs of the race. There is also $4,000 divided among all teams finishing the race.

The 60-mile race has $7,000 in prize money, divided among the top 12 finishers, with the winner receiving $2,000. The 30-mile race purse splits $4,000 among the top 12 teams and the winner receives $1,200.

The 30- and 60-mile races start and end on Saturday. The award ceremony for those races is at the Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Winners of the 250-mile race usually start arriving back in Fort Kent during the early morning hours of Monday. The awards banquet for the big race is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge.