Introduction

The support and enthusiasm of the Can-Am Crown veterinary staff has been instrumental in fostering a friendly, cooperative atmosphere that ensures the health and safety of all our competing athletes. This support has helped to ensure the continued success of what has become the foremost sled dog race in the eastern United States, the Can-Am Crown 250.

A pre-race veterinary meeting will be held early Friday, February 29, 2008. Arrival in town on Thursday evening would be ideal. Meeting attendance is important, since we will be deciding on checkpoint rotations, discussing rule changes, answering questions, and distributing veterinary supply boxes at this time. After the meeting, pre-race checks for the 250-mile and 60-mile teams will take place throughout the late morning and early afternoon. Also, we will check as many 30-mile teams as time and daylight allows. Hopefully, this will allow for a short break and a snack before attending the mushers' meetings in the evening.

Veterinary diaries are being assembled for all three races again this year. Before a team can be checked, the musher must present race registration and vaccination records to our veterinary desk.

This year it is expected that most of the vaccination records will have been checked before the teams arrive.

When the team's records have been approved, the musher will be given a veterinary diary, drop bag tags, dog ID tags, and a sign indicating the team's bib number.

All three races will be starting Saturday morning from Main Street in Fort Kent, Maine. Many of the 30-mile teams will need their pre-race checks when they arrive on Main Street around 6:30am.

Guides will be available to escort the veterinary teams to the various checkpoints throughout the races.

In addition to our Ham Radio operators at the remote checkpoints, a limited number of satellite phones will be available to communicate with essential personnel in transit.

Plan on staying in Fort Kent on Tuesday evening to attend our post-race awards banquet and get a good night's rest before traveling home.

Vets and vet techs are offered free lodging with a host family. Just call or e-mail our Hospitality Director, Karen Ouellette, and she will make arrangements. (207-834-3855, 207-316-6185, karenouellette@hotmail.com)

Checkpoint #1: Portage
  This checkpoint will be at the Portage Town Office again. Dropped dog transport should be fairly rapid from this checkpoint, allowing vets to concentrate on care for arriving and departing teams.

Checkpoint #2: Rocky Brook
  Irving Woodlands has rebuilt the camps at Rocky Brook. They are a big improvement over the original ramshackle camps that Can-Am had made use of in years past. Can-Am will provide food, and communications through Ham Radio operators should be possible for as long as the checkpoint remains open. There may be some extended care for dropped dogs at this site, since Rocky Brook camps are 50 miles (on the race trail) from Portage.

Checkpoint #3: Maibec
  In 2002, the entire lot at Maibec was turned to a slick sheet of ice by a freak thunderstorm during the race. We hope the weather is more cooperative this year, but consider bringing a raincoat, a change of clothes, and boots with good treads and/or crampons that slip over your boots for extra traction. As in the past, we have access to the bunkhouse for sleeping and showers, and food will be available.
  As Maibec is our most remote checkpoint, we may have up to 40 dropped dogs in our care at a time. Extra medical supplies will be sent with the first veterinary team and supplemental supplies will arrive with the late team. To streamline care and keep things organized, we will be providing a container to hold medical record/treatment schedule/instructions, medications and food for each dog.

Checkpoint #4: Allagash
  The final checkpoint at Allagash will also be the same as in past years. Food will be available during regular restaurant hours with limited food vouchers provided by Can-Am Crown. Sleeping space is available in the attached bunkhouse. There will be a dedicated telephone line for communications with Can-Am Central. In addition to mandatory checks on all arriving teams, the vets and techs here are also responsible for dogs dropped at Allagash and some of those transported from Maibec. Handlers should be available to pick up these dogs promptly, but it is important to review treatment instructions with them and recheck dogs prior to discharge. Since teams are usually spread out by this segment of the race, the Allagash checkpoint is often in operation from Sunday morning well into Tuesday. Checkpoint staff will be required to stay for a certain period of time after the last team leaves.

Deadlines: In order to reduce the stress on the volunteer work force, Can-Am Crown has established the following deadlines for departure from checkpoints and arrival at the finish. Historically, these deadlines would have had little or no effect on those teams that finished the race. However, many teams that were destined to scratch would have been stopped at an earlier checkpoint, saving the volunteers from excessive and unnecessary work.

Checkpoint Deadlines
CP #1	Portage	Sunday	Day 2	06:00:00 (6 a.m.) Departure
CP #2	Rocky Brook	Sunday	Day 2	20:00:00 (8 p.m.) Departure
CP #3	Maibec	Monday	Day 3	10:00:00 (10 a.m.) Departure
CP #4	Allagash	Tuesday	Day 4	06:00:00 (6 a.m.) Departure
Finish	Fort Kent	Tuesday	Day 4	14:00:00 (2 p.m.) Arrival

Trail veterinarians must be present throughout the race unless released by the Chief Veterinarian.

As you can see from our race history (see our website at http://can-am.sjv.net), we have experienced a wide variety of weather conditions throughout the years. Be sure to include the obvious essential cold-weather gear such as parka, boots, and sleeping bag, but also consider the less-obvious rain gear, light layers, and extra changes of socks, hats and mittens.
Here's a basic list:

Headlamp	Extra batteries
Stethoscope	Laceration pack
Appropriate cold-weather clothing	Appropriate rain gear
Sleeping bag	Towel (for showering at Maibec)
Lip balm	Aspirin/Tylenol/Ibuprofen
Sunglasses	Disposable (or otherwise non-freezable) camera
Favorite easy-to-transport snacks