Saturday got off to a brilliant start, as thousands of locals and visitors alike lined Main Street in downtown Fort Kent to count down mushers' start times and cheer for their favorites.

Entrants in the 60-mile Willard Jalbert, Jr., race took off from the start line beginning at 8 a.m. Teams began arriving at Lonesome Pine Trails at around 3:30 p.m. that same day.

In the end, it was Rene Marchildon who took top honors in the middle-distance race. Marchildon, a 38-year-old landscape contractor from South River, Ont., previously raced in the Can-Am 250 in 2004 and 2005. In his first Can-Am race, he placed second. In 2005, his team finished fifth. In addition to his contracting work, Marchildon leads dog sled trips as a guide through Algonquin Park.

At the time of registering, Marchildon said that his main goal for the race was to finish with "more than six dogs" (the 60-mile teams begin the race with eight dogs). March ildon and his team met that goal, as he did not have to drop a single dog

over the course of the race. No team scratclied (dropped out) of the race, and overall, only two dogs were dropped during the ~course of the competition.

With his first place finish, Marchildon secured the $2,000 first prize of the race's $7,000 total purse. Race organizer and Can-Am President Rita Canaan noted at the awards ceremony Sunday morning that six of the top 12 finishers in the 60-mile race were women. Rounding out the top 12 were 2. Shawn Akins (Williamstown, Ont., $1,300); 3. Jacob Golton (L'Amable, Ont., $850); 4. Linda Hart (Stillwater, Minn., $600); 5. Diane Marquis (St-Hughes, Qc., $500); 6. Amelie Aubut (Pont-Rouge, Qc., $400); 7. Alan Ricalton (Natural Bridge, N.Y., $350); 8. Burr Neeley (Millinocket, $300); 9. Laura Daugerau (Sand Coulee, Mont., $250); 10. Sarah Lynch (Tofte, Minn., $200); 11. Scott Shaw (Stirling, Ont., $150); 12. Kricket Ingerson (Jefferson, N.H., $100).

Both Marquis and Neely were rookies in a race of this length. Neely was also awarded an additional $100 from Will Birden, who donated $100 to the top Maine finisher in each race.

Fort Kent resident Jason Bennett finished the 60-mile race in 21st place. This year marked 32-year-old Bennett's fourth foray into the world of sled dog racing, with his participation in the 30-mile Can-Am Crowns in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Bennett credits joining forces with his father-in-law Larry Murphy, a Can-Am veteran, as the impetus behind his interest in sled dog racing. He eventually hopes to concentrate his efforts on competing in the Can-Am Crown 250.

For the Can-Am Pepsi Crown 30 race, the "fast and furious" race of the weekend, with average team speeds topping out at nearly 10 miles an hour, a rookie ended up in first place.

Martin Belanger, '40, a mechanic from St-Adolphe D'Howard, Qc., took home $1,200 of the 30-mile race's $4,000 total purse. This race was the first win for Belanger in his very first season of racing sled dogs. Belanger's team finished the course in three hours and 27 minutes, only one minute and 28 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Fred Dumont of St-Eugene de

Grantham, Qc. ($700). Rounding out the top 12 in the 30-mile race were: 3. Andrew Zollner (Lantier, Qc., $700); 4. Caroline Blair-Smith (Albany Township, $350); 5. Robin Gratton (Val-Des-Lacs, Qc., $250); 6. Jocelyn Bradbury (Oxford, $225); 7. Gabriel. Duplessis (St-Zenon, Qc., $200); 8. Stephane Duplessis (St-Zenon, Qc., $175); 9. Nancy Rivest Duplessis (St-Zenon, Qc., $l50) 10. Denis Tremblay (St-Paul D'Abbotsford, Qc., $125); 11. Genevieve Telmosse (Val-DesLacs, Qc., $100); 12. Manon Moore (St-Gabriel de Brandon, Qc., $75). Bradbury received an additional prize of $100 for being the top Maine finisher in the race. Happily, no dogs were dropped along the course and no team scratched from the 30-mile race.

The Duplessis family of Quebec made the Can-Am Crown 30 a family affair, with the three Duplessises finishing seventh, eighth, and ninth in the competition. Coming in first was Gabriel, an 11-year-old outdoor enthusiast, who said that he "loves training with [his] dogs." Gabriel said that he has been training with dogs since he was 3 years old and that he dreams of running in the Can-Am Crown 250 some day.

Gabriel's mother, Nancy, placed fifth in the Can-Am Crown 60 in 2003. With 20 meters to go in Saturday's race, her team became entangled with her son's team. The mother and son quickly detangled their teams and finished the race one after the other.

Stephane, Gabriel's father, has a long history of racing sled dogs, racing in the Can-Am 250 in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, finishing in the top 10 each year. This year, he decided to run the 30-mile to compete with his wife and son. Stephane finished a mere 80 seconds behind his son's time and only 45 seconds ahead of his wife.

Dennis Cyr, 47, of Fort Kent was the race's only local competitor. Cyr, who works as a code enforcement officer and building inspector, is no stranger to the Can-Am Crown races. Cyr has raced in the 60-mile competition in 2002, 2003, and 2006, and in the 30-mile competition in 2004, 2005, and this year. In 2006, Cyr placed 10th in the ~Eagle Lake 100,

his longest race to date. This year, he placed 20th in the Can Am Crown 30. Cyr owns "Snow Runner Kennels", through which he runs dog adventures and gives daily expeditions, rides, and tours, and has said that he hopes more local people will take an interest in dog sledding and start their own teams. "I am willing to mentor anyone who has an interest in this great sport," he said.

The racers, their families, friends, and handlers, gathered at the Lonesome Pine Lodge Sunday for their awards ceremony, with the top three finishers in each race receiving a trophy. The top finishers received trophies make in the likeness of a dog sled.

"This has been an incredibly ~exciting year for Can-Am," said Cannan. "We have become, over the course of these 15 years, the premiere dog sledding event on the East Coast."