FORT KENT, Maine — Teams from all over the country and Canada travel to Fort Kent for the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races each year. What some people may not realize is the mushers and their dogs need a place to stay once they get there.
That's where host families come in to help. Amy Deprey lives in Fort Kent with her family and volunteered to host a musher this year. She is hosting one of the 100-mile race competitors from Quebec City.
Deprey shared what she found most surprising about the work the mushers put in to prepare for this race.
"I was shocked they don't sleep, mushers do not sleep. They are up like every two hours, they call it dropping the dogs where they take them out of their home and let them move and do their business. When they're home, they're out and they're running around but when they're traveling to do a race they're kinda stuck in their cubby and, you know, you don't think about it, but that's a lot," Deprey said.
John Kaleta, a race judge at the Portage checkpoint, also shared how sleep deprivation affects the competitors.
Kaleta competed in the first Can-Am race in 1993 and has been involved with the event every year since.
He shared how tasking the 250-mile course can be, even when they reach a checkpoint to rest.
"You get very little sleep, you're taking care of your dogs, you're looking at them the entire time, you're looking at their shoulders, their feet to see if they're developing lameness. So when you get into a checkpoint, you're taking care of their feet, you're feeding them, and maybe you might get an hour of rest at each checkpoint, so you start dealing with sleep deprivation," Kaleta said.
There are four total checkpoints along the 250-mile course. The race is also a qualifier for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races in Alaska.
Teams are expected to start crossing the finish line for the 250-mile race early Monday morning. To live track the competitors in this race, click here.
To see the full results for the 30-mile and 100-mile races, click here.