11 — Chris Adkins from Sand Coulee, Montana.

Age 54.

Chris grew up running dogs, and attempted his first distance race, the Race To The Sky 500, at 21. He entered the stage race in 2010 as a training run for Iditarod and fell in love with the trails of Wyoming. Chris has raced in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Michigan, and Alaska. Chris, his wife Shannon, their family and friends, operate Mo Betta Sled Dog Racing, a 54-dog kennel on the outskirts of Sand Coulee, Montana. This will be Chris’ ninth Stage Stop. “Apparently, I just can’t get enough of it!”

10— Mike Bestgen from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Age 64.

After running long and mid distance races the last 23 years, Mike decided to take on the Stage Stop this year. “It has always been a goal to race this amazing race,” he wrote in his online application. Mike has worked for Miller Chevrolet in Rogers, Minnesota for 36 years. He’s married and has four grown kids, and 10 grand kids. He’s a three-time winner of the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race in Ely, Minnesota, and two-time Midnight Run champ. He was last year’s runner up at the Klondike Sled Dog Derby.

9 — Michael Tetzner from Burg, Germany.
Age 57.

Michael began mushing in 1987 after watching a sled dog race in Germany. He started running Siberian Huskies and has been racing dogs all over the world. He’s an IFFS (International Federation of Sleddog Sports) world champion. Michael has traveled to Alaska for years to participate in the sprint race circuit there. His homebase is a farm in Burg, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany where he has a 60-dog kennel. His wife Doreen and daughter Leonie will be his handlers this year. “Running the Stage Stop has been my dream for many years. I look forward to making many new friends.”

8 — Austin Forney from Leadville, Colorado.

Age 41.

Austin has run the Stage Stop the last seven years. Born and raised on a cattle ranch in western Nebraska, he now lives and trains at 10,152 feet in Leadville, Colorado. Fifteen years ago, Austin switched his allegiance from cattle and horses to sled dogs and has been chasing his mushing dreams ever since. He, Rich, and Ben, his two veteran handlers, are “excited to spend another year in Wyoming with all of the amazing people and dogs of the Pedigree Stage Stop Race.”

7 — Thad McCracken from Mosier, Oregon.

Age 49.

During the 15 years that Thad has raced sled dogs he has steadily worked his way from 6-dog and 8-dog races to “open class”. He’s competed all over the lower 48 states, Alaska, and Canada. He’s run the Wyoming Stage Stop, Fur Rony, and “The Pas” World Championship. Thad lives with his wife Colleen, and teenage kids David and Marie-Louise, in Mosier, Oregon. He races 18 mixed breed Alaskan huskies and has nine retired dogs who are holding down various couches around the house. “I’m really excited to be racing The Stage Stop for the third time!” he says.

6 — Christina Gibson from Carlton, Washington.

Age 20.

At age 12, Christina ran a dog for the very first time, then started building her own team a year later. She now owns Whiteout Racing Kennel, a professional race team, in Methow Valley, Washington. Christina is a professional dog trainer and social media marketer living in the North Cascades of Washington. She finished last year’s Stage Stop and says, “I’m excited to come back for this year’s race.”

5 — Tim Thiessen from Leadville, Colorado.

Age 39.

Tim has run the Stage Stop every year since 2019. His passion for dog sledding began in 2003 when he began working for a Breckenridge, Colorado dog sled tour company. He soon began competing in his local 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 some geese. “Every year presents new challenges, and I’m excited to once again train and compete in this esteemed event!.”

4— Bruce Magnusson from Newberry, Michigan.

Age 59.

2023 marks Bruce’s eighteenth consecutive year running the Stage Stop Race — more than any other competitor in our 28-year history — and his twentieth year of mushing. He lives and trains 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 says.

4 — Geneva Lyon from Brightwood, Oregon.

Age 47.

Geneva lives in Brightwood, Oregon on Mt. Hood with her husband Tim Snail, 7-year old daughter Shade, and their 16 dogs. Born and raised on a small farm in rural southern Oregon, she grew up snowboarding, then discovered skijoring, and fell in love with driving a dog team. “I’ve been running dogs for 18 years and racing for 12. This is my second time running the Stage Stop, and I’m super excited to be returning to the beautiful state of Wyoming!

3 — Dennis LaBoda from Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Age 64.

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 of our event. 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. We welcome Dennis back as a Stage Stop veteran. He’s competed in 2008 and every year from 2010 through 2018.

2 — Al Borak from Newberry, Michigan.

Age 63.

Al is a detail man who’s learned to read dogs, and how to take care of them. His special talent is preparing young dogs to be world-class racers, something he plans to do this year with a talented group of youngsters from Magnusson’s kennel. “Any dog team Al drives emerges better for having him behind them,” says Lloyd Gilberston. “I expect a steady, consistent race from Al, and a strong finish. I will thoroughly enjoy watching his race.”

1 — Randy DeKuiper from Hesparia, Michigan.

Age 75.

Randy is a proud native of Michigan, and, in his spare time, he’s grandfather to 13. He’s raced dogs for 53 years — New Hampshire, New York, Wyoming, Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio. And let’s not forget Canada—Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. “I look forward to the camaraderie for which this race is known and, for certain, the challenge it presents!!!.”

24 — Grant Beck from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Age 71.

Grant has been mushing dogs since age seven, when his first job was delivering groceries by dog team in the remote village of Fort Resolution, NWT. By age twelve, Grant was travelling by himself in the bush with his dog team, learning to live safely and comfortably in temperatures as low as – 40C. Since running and winning his first race at nine years old, Grant has put together an impressive career with hundreds of trophies and wins. The headlines began with the first of his four wins at the Canadian Championship in 1978. Grant was the 10-dog World Champion by 1981 and was winning races of up to 300 miles throughout the United States. In 1991, his international reputation soared when he started racing the 700 km Alpirod with many years of top 3 finishes. Over 11 seasons in Europe, Grant went on to win the Pirena 2000 Dog Sled Race in the Pyrenees. In 2005, he finished a strong third in La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc, one of the toughest dog sled races in the world.

23 — Fernando Ramirez from Peoa, Utah.

Age 36.

Fernando ran the Pedigree Stage Stop Race in 2019 and in 2020. He and his wife, Dana, own and operate Rancho Luna Lobos in Peoa, Utah. They offer educational sled dog tours, kids’ summer /winter camps and have a dog rescue and rehabilitation program on their Rancho. Fernando is proud to represent his Mexican heritage on the professional racing circuit and hopefully inspire more Latino mushers to race. An enthusiastic Fernando says, “I’m really excited to race in the 2022 season after having to pull out of last year’s Stage Stop due to an injury.”

22 — Jerry Scdoris from Bend, Oregon.

Age 74.

Jerry: “I am a Vietnam era Veteran and a very serious University of Oregon Duck; a retired high school teacher, counselor, and football and track coach. My dogs have run in eight Stage Stop races, one with my daughter Rachael Scdoris when she was 15, two with our trusted handler Raphael Nelson and five with me. I’ve had the privilege of training all eight of these teams. Back In the 70’s and 80’s I was a sprint racer. My daughter Rachael emerged during the 90’s and 2000’s as our dog yard’s primary racer and had successful races in Oregon, California, Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota and the Alaskan Tustamena 200 four times and four Iditarod’s. I am thrilled to be the musher representing our dog yard in this year’s Stage Stop as I will be celebrating my 74th birthday on the trail with many of the BEST sled dogs and sled dog racers in the World! I love the Wyoming Stage Stop.”

21 — Hans Gatt from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Age 63. 

Hans is a dogsled builder with his partner Susie Rogan in Whitehorse, Yukon. He began racing sled dogs in the European Spring circuit in 1987 and moved to Canada in 1990 to pursue stage and distance racing. After winning the Stage Stop four times, he set his sights on the Yukon Quest and Iditarod. Hans has run the Wyoming Stage Stop six times in all, but not since 2001. With 1000-mile racing now behind him, Hans is ready to run the Stage Stop “one more time. Running the Stage Stop is the most fun I’ve ever had racing, and I plan to show up with a team that will finish at the front. But I intend to enjoy the race no matter where they finish. Thank you, Frank Teasley for creating a great event for the sled dog world.”

20 — Rachel Courtney from Vita, Manitoba, Canada.

Age 29.

Born in Mainburg, Germany, Rachel started mushing at age 10 with her pet Siberian Husky and was “immediately hooked on mushing.” At age 14 she began bikejoring (riding a bike with a dog pulling) and four years later came to Canada to handle for Chris Turner in The Pas, Manitoba. “I loved it so much that I knew that I wanted a kennel of my own. Now my husband, my 1-year-old daughter and I own a kennel of 32 sled dogs. This will be my third year running the Stage Stop and I am so excited to return with my whole family to run this race!”

19— Geneva Lyon from Brightwood, Oregon.

Age 46.

Geneva became interested in mushing at the age of four and says that she’s “always loved dogs and all animals.” Born and raised on a small farm in rural southern Oregon, she grew up snowboarding, then got into skijoring and fell in love with driving a dog team. She and her husband Tim, stepson Dillon, and daughter Shade live and train on and around Mt. Hood in Oregon. Geneva ran the 2019 Eukanuba 8-Dog Classic. “I’m excited for a chance to do the big race!”

18— Dennis LaBoda from Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Age 63.

Dennis is a self-employed contractor. Sled dogs were a neighborhood activity for him when he was growing up in Minnesota. His older brother, Dale, started mushing as a teenager and raced IPSSSDR in the early years of our event. Following in 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 has been a family activity. He and his son, Charlie, train and race Nighttrain Racing Sled Dogs.

17 — Cathy Rivest from St-Paul-de-Joliette, Quebec, Canada.

Age 46.

Cathy is a prosthetist and has worked with amputees for 25 years. She began dogsledding at age 12 helping to run the family sled dog tour business for tourists. That business quickly turned to competitive sled dog racing. Cathy has raced sprint class, 4-dog and 6-dog as well as dryland. She’s been an active part of Quebec’s Provincial Federation for the past 10 years. She says that her favorite sprint race is Laconia, New Hampshire but says, “I’m really excited to race this year’s Stage Stop with my brother Marco Rivest’s team.”