A field of 71 mushers will leave Fourth Avenue in two-minute intervals beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Fiedler will leave more than two hours before the final mushers do -- meaning less waiting time among big crowds of spectators.

"It'll be nice," he said. "There are some advantages, but you've also got 70 teams nipping at your heels. Honestly, it probably doesn't matter ... The most important thing is to stay on your schedule, run your team the way you trained 'em and let the cards fall where they may."

Still, Fiedler is happy to be starting early. He credited the luck of his draw to granddaughter Emma, who drew for him Thursday at the annual race banquet at the Dena'ina Convention Center, where a crowd of 2,000 was on hand to watch mushers draw their starting spots.

"I asked her to draw me a lucky number," Fiedler said. "So she worked for me."

Fiedler will wear No. 2 bib. The No. 1 bib will be worn by Orin Seybert, the retired CEO of PenAir, who was named this year's Leonhard Seppela Honorary Musher. He'll ride in a sled driven by Junior Iditarod champion Merissa Osmar of Nikiski on Saturday.

Seybert and PenAir stepped in with financial support for the Iditarod in the mid 1990s when the U.S. Humane Society was urging national sponsors to cut their ties to the 1,000-mile sled-dog race from Anchorage to Nome. Among those that pulled their support was Timberland, at the time the race's biggest sponsor.

"We'll continue to support it," Seybert said Thursday night. "I don't give a damn what they do Outside."

Three-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey drew the No. 49 bib, meaning he'll be the 49th racer to leave Fourth Avenue on Saturday.

Mackey is one of five past champions in this year's race. Others, and their bib numbers, are No. 15 Jeff King, No. 19 Mitch Seavey, No. 37 Martin Buser and No. 57 Rick Swenson.

No. Musher, hometown

1) Orin Seybert, Anchorage (honorary musher)

2) Linwood Fiedler, Willow

3) Cim Smyth, Big Lake

4) Wattie McDonald, Scotland

5) Zoya DeNure, Gakona

6) Jessie Royer, Fairbanks

7) Paul Gebhardt, Kasilof

8) John Baker, Kotzebue

9) Ray Redington Jr., Wasilla

10) Justin Savidis, Willow

11) Blake Freking, Finland, Minn.

12) Matt Hayashida, Willow

13) Scott White, Woodinville, Wash.

14) Newton Marshall, St. Anne, Jamaica

15) Jeff King, Denali

16) William "Middie" Johnson, Unalakleet

17) Pat Moon, Chicago, Ill.

18) Ross Adam, Grande Prairie, Alberta

19) Mitch Seavey, Seward

20) Hans Gatt, Whitehorse, Yukon

21) Ramey Smyth, Willow

22) Jane Faulkner, Soldotna

23) Karin Hendrickson, Chugiak

24) Art Church, Wasilla

25) Gerry Willomitzer, Whitehorse, Yukon

26) Tamara Rose, Fairbanks

27) Warren Palfrey, Quesnel, B.C.

28) Quinn Iten, Kotzebue

29) Karen Ramstead, Perryvale, Alberta

30) Michael Suprenant, Chugiak

31) DeeDee Jonrowe, Willow

32) Robert Nelson, Kotzebue

33) Chris Adkins, Sand Coulee, Mont.

34) Kirk Barnum, Seeley Lake, Mont.

35) Sebastian Schnuelle, Whitehorse, Yukon

36) Michelle Phillips, Tagish, Yukon

37) Martin Buser, Big Lake

38) Kristy Berington, Kasilof

39) Cindy Gallea, Seeley Lake, Mont.

40) William Pinkham, Glenwood Springs, Colo.

41) Dallas Seavey, Seward

42) Sven Haltmann, Fairbanks

43) Jim Lanier, Chugiak

44) Sonny Lindner, Two Rivers

45) Hank Debruin, Haliburton, Ontario

46) Kathleen Frederick, Willow

47) Zack Steer, Sheep Mountain

48) Gerald Sousa, Talkeetna

49) Lance Mackey, Fairbanks

50) Aliy Zirkle, Two Rivers

51) Ken Anderson, Fairbanks

52) Dave DeCaro, Denali Park

53) Emil Churchin, Anchorage

54) Allen Moore, Two Rivers

55) Ryan Redington, Wasilla

56) Hugh Neff, Tok

57) Rick Swenson, Two Rivers

58) Celeste Davis, Deer Lodge, Mont.

59) Michael Williams, Jr., Akiak

60) Trent Herbst, Ketchum, Idaho

61) Colleen Robertia, Kasilof

62) Thomas Lesatz, Two Rivers

63) Lachlan Clarke, Buena Vista, Colo.

64) Dan Kaduce, Chatanika

65) Bruce Linton, Kasilof

66) Sam Deltour, Sint-Kruis, Belgium

67) Peter Kaiser, Bethel

68) Tom Thurston, Oak Creek, Colo.

69) John Stewart, Aberdeen, Scotland

70) Billy Snodgrass, DuBois, Wyo.

71) Jason Barron, Lincoln, Mont.

72) Judy Currier, Fairbanks