FORT KENT, Maine — A Can-Am Crown musher participating in a 30-mile sled dog race was struck and injured by a snowmobile just 2 miles from the start Saturday morning.
Jeffrey McRobbie, 59, of Wayne was on the Heritage Trail traveling out of Fort Kent just before 10 a.m. when he encountered five snowmobilers following each other and heading into town on the trail, according to the Maine Warden Service.
That is one of the few sections of the trail shared by snowmobiles and dog sleds and is wide enough to accommodate both, according to race organizers. But as the first few snowmobilers slowed down when they saw the sled and dogs, one driver in the rear was blinded by blowing snow and veered left to avoid striking the rear end of the snowmobile in front of him, the warden service reported.
The snowmobiler avoided hitting the dogs but struck the sled and musher.
McRobbie suffered a laceration to his head and injured his arm and shoulder, according the warden service. He was brought to Northern Maine Medical Center for treatment.
No other injuries were reported.
The dogs were not injured, and race organizers took them back to the ski lodge in Fort Kent to be cared for, according to Beurmond Banville, president of the Can-Am Racing Committee.
No other information was immediately available.