20 — Remy Coste, a French musher living in 
Salcha, Alaska.

Formerly a baker in France and awarded Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2000, Rémy recalls: “Recognized as one of the best bakers in France, I asked myself: so what’s next?” The answer came quickly: mushing. He first worked with Malamutes before racing Euro hounds in 2012. Together with his wife, Aurélie Coste-Delattre, a veterinarian, they spent seven years in Sweden, training dogs and competing in several European mid-distance races. Driven by the dream of experiencing the legendary North American circuits, the couple crossed the Atlantic, and in 2024, they entered and won the Stage Stop. After testing themselves on a few Open Sprint races in Alaska last year, they look forward to returning to the breathtaking landscapes of Wyoming.

19 — JR Anderson from Buyck, Minnesota.

JR is a native of Minnesota who has dedicated over 20 years to the sport of endurance canines. He and wife, Anna ‘Chapman’ Anderson, own the River Rock Kennel in Buyck, Minnesota. When not racing dogs, JR can be found playing with his daughter Sara and son Eli. Through research, extensive training, and competitive racing, he’s developed a keen knowledge of the canine’s ability to perform at accelerated levels.

18 — Tim Thiessen from Leadville, Colorado.

Tim has been participating in Stage Stop since 2019. His passion for dog sledding began in 2003 when he began work with a Breckenridge, Colorado sled dog tour company. He soon began competing in the local Colorado race circuit with his own team. Tim and his partner, Natalie, share their high-altitude homestead in the Mosquito Range of central Colorado with dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, and a few geese. “Every year is a new challenge, and I’m excited to once again race in Wyoming!”

17 — Mitchell Jackobson from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Mitchell is from Tuktoyaktuk, a small community on the Arctic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle. He’s been racing dogs for 7 years. Until 2018, he was a Junior ‘A” hockey player in Ontario. Then he discovered mushing dogs, which he loved. He now has his own kennel of 31 dogs. He finished the Fur Rondy Open World Championship in 2023. His inspiration has been his dad, Jackie Jacobson, and his late uncle Peter Norberg.

16 — Nicole Lombardi from Lincoln, Montana.

Nicole got her first sled dog when she was looking for a canine running partner. The rest of the story unfolded about the way you would anticipate: a) anthropomorphic feelings that your dog is lonely, b) the acquisition of a second dog, c) the realization that your dogs aren’t tired after running with you, and you need to reconsider their exercise plan before they ruin all your furniture) packing up to move to Montana — where sled dogs can be sled dogs! Nicole is a proud associate of Mars Petcare, and an active volunteer for the Pedigree Foundation.

15 — Tristan Rivest from Saint-Zénon, Québec, Canada.

Tristan describes himself as a biologist and professional hunting guide who’s always been a musher. He participated in his first race when he was four years old, and two years later ran 15 miles with five dogs. “I fell into the ‘pot’ when I was young,” he says. His family travelled the country racing dogs, and, until college, he was part of every trip. He has really good memories of coming to Wyoming with his family in 2013. “My only regret was not having the chance to race it like my brother. That’s why I am here now, to make my dream come true!”

14 — Stéphane Roy from Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada.  



Born and raised in Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Stéphane started dog sledding at the age of five with his dalmatian, and it quickly became a daily activity. In the last four years, he’s competed in the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race, La Chic-Chocs 40 (first place in 2024), Defi Lotbiniere Nahak (second place in 2024), and Cross Lake Trappers Festival Race (fourth place in 2024). In 2025, Stéphane competed in the Stage Stop for the first time. “I had dreamed of running the Pedigree Stage Stop Race for a long time and am glad I made it again this year”.

13 — Bruce Magnusson from Newberry, Michigan.

Bruce has run the Stage Stop Race more times than any other competitor in our 31-year history. The first time he got on a sled was a race in 2002 and placed second. His dad took first. Bruce was hooked! Now in his 24th year of mushing, he lives and trains at his kennel in Newberry, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. “The Stage Stop is always the primary focus of our race season, and I can’t imagine not being a part of this race and the Stage Stop family,” he writes.

12 — Dave Hochman from St. Malo, Manitoba, Canada.

In 1979, Dave saw his first sled dog races at the Festival Du Voyager in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and convinced his mom to let him get three dogs. And that’s how Dave’s dog mushing career began. During the summer months, he works as a provincial park maintenance worker. When he’s not training sled dogs, he enjoys singing and playing in a band. Dave has two grown kids, Justin and Julie, and a wonderful partner, Janice, who is also his dog handler.

11 —Anny Malo from St-Zénon, Quebec, Canada.

Anny started racing sled dogs in 1996 after meeting her husband, Marco. In 1999, they received some precious teaching from Joe and Pam Redington. Afterwards, they raced western Canadian mid-distance events with mass starts and met so many good mushers. Racing became a family affair, taking their two boys on the road for at least a month every winter. Now, as a couple, they travel for more than three months every winter, looking for more challenges. Anny won the Pedigree Stage Stop as a rookie in 2019, then she entered six Pedigree Stage Stop Races with five consecutive first-place wins. “It is an annual event for our team, and we are proud to be part of it!!!”

10 — Alix Crittenden from Bondurant, Wyoming.

A flower farmer in the summer and a dog musher in the winter, Alix began mushing in 2009 when she was a tour guide for Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dog Tours. It didn’t take long for her to get addicted, and now in addition to managing the kennel, she travels, competing with the race team. In 2025, Alix finished in 3rd place overall. She thanks her husband, Sam, and her family for helping her with all her battles, her boss Frank for all the support, and Pedigree and the Mars family for putting on such an amazing event.

9 — Dennis LaBoda from Hovland, Minnesota.

Sled dogs were a neighborhood activity when Dennis was growing up in Minnesota. His older brother, Dale, started mushing as a teenager and raced the IPSSSDR in the early years. Following his brother’s “footsteps in the snow,” Dennis started mushing as a teenager, and in 1973 won the Minnesota State Championship 5-dog class with dogs supplied by Chuck Gould. He’s won many races in North and South America and has been a race official in Europe. Mushing is a family activity. He and his son, Charlie, train and race Nighttrain Racing Sled Dogs.

8 — Sean Hildreth from Bend, Oregon.

Sean began mushing in 2018 with Alpine Adventure Dog Sledding, Austin Forney’s kennel in Leadville, Colorado. “The first day of training, I fell in love with the dogs and the musher life,” he says. In 2022, Sean began working with dogs for Rachael and Jerry Scdoris at the Oregon Trail of Dreams. He also raced their dog team. “Oregon and the kennel are my home, and the dogs are my family.”  He’s been busy these past two seasons, including winning first place at the American Dog Derby and the Bachelor Butte Dog Derby two consecutive years.

7 —Leonie Tetzner from Burg, Germany.

Fifteen-year-old Leonie was born into the sport, following her dad’s footsteps, and in Europe she’s a bit of media star, featured on radio, television, and in sports magazines. She was a handler for her dad in 2023 and 2024. Last year was her first time racing the Stage Stop. In 2023, she received the Susan’s Hope Award for Dog Care at the Fur Rondy. “Wyoming has beautiful scenery and is an amazing place to race with my dogs, our friends, and other mushers. I fell in love with nature the first time we came for the race,” she says.

6 — Liam Conner from Makwa, Loon Lake, Saskatchewan.

Liam has been racing sled dogs since he was three years old and has always loved the sport. Like his dad, he grew up racing the Ma Mow We Tak sprint circuit in Northern Canada and is proud to represent Saskatchewan. He’s an athlete who loves sports, including track, volleyball, golf, and baseball. Liam and his team will be focused, trying their best to improve on last year’s time — they finished in 7^th place overall in his rookie run at last year’s Stage Stop Race. “There is nothing better than spending a couple of weeks in the mountains of Wyoming!”

5 — Michael Bestgen from St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Michael has worked for Miller Chevrolet in Rogers, Minnesota, for 40 years. He’s married to Vicki and has four grown children and ten grandkids. He’s raced dogs for 27 years. “I start training in September, when the temperature gets under 50 degrees,” he says. “I use a side-by-side, until the snow comes. I usually run about six races a season in Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and of course, Wyoming. This will be my fourth time coming to this beautiful race. It started as a one-time thing, but it’s just such a great race that I want to keep coming back.”

4— Michael Tetzner from Burg, Germany.

Michael, a pet food company owner, writes that his home base is a 60-dog kennel farm in Burg, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. He began mushing with Siberian Huskies in 1987 after watching a sled dog race. In 2000, he began to travel overseas to race, flying 32 dogs (imagine that!) and then driving, always on the Alaska Highway, until the end of the season. “Wyoming is a powerful place and gives me and my family the spirit to work and race with our friends, dogs, and humans.”

3 — Sarah Tarlton from Mountain, Wisconsin. 

Sarah started racing in 2019, only four years after she began handling dogs. She and her “partner in crime”, Ryan Beaber, his daughters, and their dogs live in northern Wisconsin. She’s completed the Cross Lake, CopperDog 150, The Pas, Tahquamenon Country and Northern Pines races. The Stage Stop is one of her favorites, she says. “It’s the kids! And getting to make a school presentation. The kids cheering us on is heartwarming and really gets my dogs pumped up to run!”

2 — Chris Adkins from Sand Coulee, Montana.

Chris grew up running dogs, and competed in his first distance race, the Race to the Sky 500, when he was 21. He entered the Stage Stop in 2010 as training for the Iditarod and fell in love with the trails of Wyoming. Chris has retired from the building industry, and he and his wife Shannon, with the help of the kids, operate Mo Betta Sled Dog Racing, a 50-plus dog kennel in Sand Coulee, Montana. This will be Chris’ eleventh Stage Stop. “I’m looking forward to being back on my favorite trails with dogs that I love,” he says.

1 — Austin Forney from Leadville, Colorado.

The 2026 race will mark Austin’s 11th consecutive year competing at the Stage Stop. He comes from a line of cattle ranchers who’ve lived in the Sandhills of western Nebraska for five generations. In 2006, Austin switched from cattle and horses to sled dogs and has been chasing his mushing dreams ever since. He lives and trains at 10,152 ft. in Leadville, Colorado. Austin says that he, his dogs, and handlers are “excited to spend another year in Wyoming with all of the amazing people and dogs of the Pedigree Stage Stop Race.” He also wants to extend a huge thank you to his family and friends for their continued love and support. “See you in Jackson!”