FORT KENT, Maine — A helicopter pilot, commercial fisherman, paving contractor and others traded their regular jobs to lead dog-sled teams on a 250-mile dash across the wilderness of northern Maine.

The Can-Am Crown kicked off Saturday in Fort Kent with mushers from Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin and several Canadian provinces.

The last race, in 2020, produced the closest finish in Can-Am history. Denis Tremblay, of Saint Michel des Saints, Quebec, won by 35 seconds over Katherine Langlais of Glenwood, New Brunswick.

Both are among 18 participants.

Ten-time winner Martin Massicotte, of St. Tite, Quebec, was absent from the lineup for a second-straight year. He was competing in the 1,000-mile Iditarod in Alaska, also starting Saturday.

The course takes mushers to Portage Lake and then to the town of Allagash before looping back to Fort Kent by Monday morning.

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The weekend race comes after a one-year absence because of the pandemic.

In addition to the signature 250-milers, there were additional races with distances of 100 miles (160 kilometers) and 30 miles (48 kilometers).

Among the participants in the 30-miler is 17-year-old Caleb Hayes, whose team was attacked by a moose while training Tuesday night. Hayes had to shoot and kill the moose to end the attack.

Each race is different. The temperature plummeted to minus-38 during the first Can-Am Crown and then soared to 61 degrees a year later.

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