FORT KENT, Maine — Martin Massicotte took the early lead in the Can-Am Crown sled dog race soon after leaving the start in Fort Kent on Saturday morning and held it for the next 250 miles.
Just after 2 a.m. Monday, Massicotte, of Ste-Tite, Quebec, and his team of Alaskan huskies crossed the finish line at Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge in Fort Kent to claim their sixth Can-Am win, minutes ahead of Denis Tremblay of St. Michel des Saints, Quebec.
“There were perfect conditions for the dogs and a very nice trail,” a visibly tired Massicotte said through a translator soon after his finish. “This is one of the years we ran faster than ever before.”
Massicotte was the first musher to arrive at each of the race’s four checkpoints — Portage Lake, Rocky Brook, Camp Syl-Ver and Allagash — often only minutes ahead of Tremblay.
“After I left Portage, I did not see the other racers,” Massicotte said. “But I was looking over my shoulder all the time.”
Massicotte left Allagash at 8:35 p.m. Sunday for the final 48-mile push to Fort Kent.
Tremblay left 21 minutes later and at one point thought he had a real shot at taking the lead for himself.
“About 15 miles [from the finish] I figured I had a chance to pass Martin,” Tremblay said. “But that did not work.”
Tremblay did cut Massicotte’s lead almost in half on the trail from Allagash, finishing seven minutes behind him to take second place.
Massicotte covered the 250-mile course in 25 hours, 17 minutes and 32 seconds. Tremblay posted a time of 25:24:18.
“The conditions were perfect this year,” Tremblay said. “There was just one problem — Martin.”
Both men finished with eight of the 12 dogs they had started with on Saturday, each having dropped dogs because of injuries and health reasons.
Coming in almost two hours behind Tremblay was fellow Quebec musher Andre Longchamps in third place.
Ashley Patterson of Shirley pulled to the finish at 8:18 a.m. to claim fourth place. She was also the first Maine finisher and first woman across the line this year.
Temperatures over the race weekend ranged from below zero Saturday to near freezing Sunday.
“We were seeing some shoulder and wrist injuries in the dogs this year because of the hard-packed trail,” race veterinarian Sheila Morrissey said early Monday morning. “But overall the dogs have been looking really good this year.”
Back for his 23rd year as race marshal, George Theriault said 2015 saw some of the best racing conditions in the Can-Am’s 26-year history.
“The race is going really, really well this year,” he said early Monday morning from Lonesome Pine. “The teams look good and the conditions were perfect for the dogs and mushers.”
This will be Theriault’s last year as race marshal, and he said he will miss it but the time has come for him to devote more time to other projects.
Five-time Can-Am Crown 250 winner Don Hibbs of Millinocket will take over as race marshal in 2016, according to Theriault.
By late Monday, New Hampshire mushers Becki Tucker, Christine Richardson and Sally Manikian; Ward Wallin of Minnesota; and Amy Dionne of St. David all had arrived at Lonesome Pines.
Still on the trail and expected in late Monday were Julie Albert of Quebec, Remy Leduc of New Brunswick and Gilles Harnois of Quebec.
Five teams dropped out of the race along the way, according to Can-Am officials.
Race organizers said the remaining teams’ progress can be tracked at Can-Am-Crown.net.
