It was a record setting day at the 18th annual Carbon Hill sleddog race at Mount Lorne on Saturday.

In a repeat performance from last year, Normand Casavant came away as the winner in the 30-mile sled dog race, the main event of the day.

Dave Johnson broke his own 2006 record by 20 seconds with a time of 30:59 for the 10-mile sled dog race, while Stefan Wackerhagen beat his 2011 record (2:52:37) in the 30-mile skijor race.

Kyla Johnson led the way in the six-mile skijor race with a time of 23 minutes and 21 seconds.

In the children's races, Abby Cruikshank placed first in the two-mile sled dog race while Adelaide Fitzgerald paced the field in the 200-metre event.

"My dog's ran very well the entire race so I'm very happy,” said Casavant, who has been competing in the sport for 25 years.

"It's the result of good training, good genetics, good feeding and lots of love,” he said with a laugh when asked what factors he attributed to his success on the trail.

Paul Matheus, the Carbon Hill race coordinator, said the weather and the trail conditions played a large part in this year's fast times.

"The rangers were out there, really blazing that trail, they had it well-packed and nice and wide,” he said. "And with the cold weather the dogs just really ran well.”

As of Thursday evening the trails were prepared and ready for the race but windy weather on Friday caused the rangers to head back out and reset the conditions early Saturday morning. The wind was so bad that there was no perceivable trail on Annie Lake, said Matheus.

"The rangers did an awesome job,” said Casavant. "The trail was perfect, no complaints at all.”

The Annie Lake stretch proved to be pivotal for Cassavant as he was able to pass three teams and capture the lead.

Casavant partly attributed that burst of speed to his vocal abilities.

"I started to sing a song on the trail and the dogs really love that,” he said. "After that, they were very fast.

"I'm a dog psychologist, I can't do anything with humans but with dogs I'm pretty good.”

"The trail was really smooth, which surprised me after all the snow and wind,” said Alexandra Rochat, who placed sixth in the 30-mile event.

"The conditions were great and the dogs were very fast,” said Rochat, who ran the race for the second time in her career.

"The only screw-up was my fault, I called for a wrong direction and got us stuck in some powder that we had a hard time getting out of, but other than that, it went very well.”

With the temperature hovering around -25, Rochat said the dogs were able to run without overheating.

Local musher, Marcelle Fressineau, placed seventh overall with a time of just over three hours.

Fressineau, who will be competing in the Yukon Quest, said the event was a good warm-up for the international race.

"It's nice for the dogs to have this kind of race,” she said. "I'm sure they get bored of the same training.”

Fressineau said the Carbon Hill event will be her last race before the Quest, which begins Feb. 4.

In the meantime, she will be training her team with shorter runs.

"I'm a bit nervous because I've been there twice before, I know what I'm getting myself into,” she said.

"But I will focus on training and hope for the best.”

Matheus said the race turnout dropped marginally this year, due to the weather conditions and a shortened training timetable.

Due to the late snowfall and the resulting condensed training schedule, Matheus said that some of the events usual participants didn't feel their dogs were ready to compete.

"There's quite a bit of pride on the line when you put your dogs out there for other racers to see,” he said.

"They want to do well and have a respectable finish.”

A large group of fans and family members greeted the mushers in the cold conditions, occasionally retreating into the warmth of the Mount Lorne community centre to enjoy some hot drinks and food.

"It was a great day,” said Rochat. "It's a great community event.”