Special to the St. Cloud Times
- Mike Bestgen, a 66-year-old resident of St. Cloud, Minnesota, has been a competitive sled dog racer for over 25 years.
- Bestgen’s dedication to the sport has earned him several victories, including three consecutive wins at the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race, where he also holds the record for being the oldest winner.
- A true testament to his love for the sport and his competitive spirit, Bestgen plans to continue racing as long as he is able to keep winning.
Mike Bestgen has been racing sled dogs for over 25 years and, at age 66, he isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.
The St. Cloud native got his start in the sport helping his friend, Dave, during his sled dog races. Dave was running continuous races, in which legs are separated by periods of rest.
Bestgen’s friend needed a handler to help him set up at each checkpoint. Bestgen would drive to each checkpoint, get it set up for the dogs, tend to the dogs when they arrived, set up for the next leg of the race and then clean up the area once the team left. Then Bestgen would travel to the next checkpoint and do it all over again.
“I know it sounds like a lot of work, but we had a lot of fun,” Bestgen said.
After doing that for a few years, he thought, “Well, I really enjoyed this and I love dogs anyway so … why not do it myself?”
So he did.
Now, he has 18 dogs in training and six puppies.
“Unlike a lot of mushers, all my dogs were born at my kennel and raised by me and trained by me,” he said. “I take pride in having my own and doing my own.”
Bestgen follows a theme when it comes to naming each new litter, with themes including popular beers, singers or television shows like “Yellowstone” or “Ozark.” Among his dogs you’ll find Beth and Teeter, Busch, Coors, Natty, Prince and Snoop Dogg.
“They love people,” he said. “They love their job and they’re very healthy dogs. They’re fine-tuned athletes.”
It’s an expensive hobby – one Bestgen couldn’t start until his children were away from home. He’s a busy family man as a father of four and the grandfather of 10. Not only that, but he still works full-time in sales at Miller Chevrolet in Rogers, Minnesota – just as he has for 39 years.
Between feeding and training, the dogs themselves are a full-time job.
“Just doing dog chores keeps you in shape,” he said. “I probably put in a minimum of 12,000 steps a day doing dog duties and work and then coming home again at night and doing them.”
Training season for the Alaskan Huskies begins around September when the temperature starts to drop below 50 degrees. They can’t train in anything warmer than that. Bestgen runs them for about four miles to start and slowly builds up their endurance from there. The dogs are also trained on things like commands and working as a team.
“It isn’t like you just hop on and go race,” he said.
To stay in shape, Besten does weight-lifting, jump roping and plenty of stretching.
“If you don’t like dogs, you’re not gonna do this sport. Not just like them, you have to love them,” he said.
Bestgen has a series of races slated for the 2025 season.
Each race is different, including how many dogs can race and how many miles are covered over a span of several days. Bestgen has raced across the country, from races right here in Minnesota to Wyoming and Michigan. Teams come from across the globe to race – including Poland, Germany, Alaska and Canada.
“To win a race, you need three things: You need good dogs, a good diet and good training. If you miss one of those, you’re not going to win.”
After each dog sledding season, he evaluates how well the team did and what he needs to change for the upcoming season.
Bestgen is no stranger to winning. He’s won the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race three years in a row. He also holds the record for being the oldest person to win the race and holds the track record. Bestgen hopes to defend his title at the Midnight Run this year, which he’s won twice. He was also a runner-up at the Klondike Sled Dog Derby.
Eventually, he hopes to race the Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska.
Bestgen’s competitiveness started when he was in high school playing sports.
“I want to race. I want to see how I did and how I compare to my peers,” he said.
The dogs are much the same way.
“They live for this. You hook up a sled dog, they want to run and pull; that’s what they’re bred for,” he said. “We would never make a dog run. You pick the dogs that want to run.”
Not only does sled dog racing satisfy Bestgen’s competitive edge, but he also gets to see and experience things few others ever will.
“The beauty up in the mountains is unreal,” Bestgen said, speaking of his time in Wyoming. He compares the difference between seeing the mountains in the summer and the winter.
“Now imagine all the ground cover gone and the leaves gone so you can see the lay of the land so much better,” he said. “It is exhilarating.”
Some races run through the middle of the night, and he can even see the northern lights.
“There’s times it’s so cold all you hear is a dog’s feet hitting the snow,” Bestgen said. “It’s very surreal to experience that. I’ve seen country most people will never see.”
Bestgen plans to continue dog sledding until he can’t anymore. As for competitive racing, he’ll keep going as long as he’s winning.
“If I’m 75 years old and have the ability to still do it, I might do it, but I probably won’t race because I don’t want to go out there and finish last,” he said.
Spoken like a true competitor.
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