Jonrowe, like most mushers, used the stage to thank family, friends and sponsors. But the cancer survivor, sporting a hot pink Skoop quilted skirt, also urged race fans who dine at Taco Bell to donate a dollar to Providence Cancer Center each time they eat at the fast food establishment.

Former KNOM general manager Tom Busch, who died in November at age 65, was named the 2011 Leonhard Seppala Honorary Musher.

Busch, who worked at KNOM for 35 years, covered the first Iditarod in 1973 and typed the standings in the Associated Press teletype wire, giving the outside world its first taste of the “Last Great Race.”

His subsequent coverage for KNOM, including a thrilling call of the wild and controversial Dick Mackey-Rick Swenson sprint down Front Street in 1978, would result in Busch earning the unofficial title “Voice of the Iditarod.”

Busch’s wife Florence will wear the honorary No. 1 bib and ride in the sled of Junior Iditarod champ Jeremiah Klejka during the ceremonial start in Anchorage.

Other notable starters and highlights from the stage:

•Fan favorite Newton Marshall will lead his team out sixth, which he noted means “strong mind” in his native Jamaica.

• Four-time champion Lance Mackey will start 17th, which he also claimed is his age.

• Yukon Quest champion Dallas Seavey will be 21st out of the chute.

• Former champion Swenson, who said, “I get to represent the whole state of Alaska … No. 49. Hope I make you guys proud.”

• Rookie Justin Savidis of Willow has no where to go but up after drawing dead last

• Veteran Aily Zirkle, the only musher to thank her dogs first, will start 18th. Her dogs should be well rested, because sponsor Clarion Suites is providing space for half the team to sleep in actual hotel rooms.

• Fairbank’s Ken Anderson, who drew No. 43, thanked his wife. While Anderson changes dog booties, his spouse will be tending to their three children, all under the age of 3.

• Rookie Bob Storey, who will start 15th, asked everybody to spare a thought or prayer for those affected by the earthquake in his native New Zealand. “Rebuilding the city will be easy. Rebuilding their lives will be hard,” the rookie noted in one of the more serious moments of the night.

• Veteran Sonny Linder was the only musher to say just his number, to which emcee Cary Carrigan said, “Man of few words.”

• Trent Herbst drew the biggest laughs of the evening when he drew the fourth spot. “Great! Now I have to get up early,” the Ketchum, Idaho native said.

Start List

1) Leonhard Seppala Honorary Musher, Florence Busch, wife of late KNOM GM Tom Busch

2) DeeDee Jonrowe, Willow

3) Ray Redington Jr, Wasilla

4) Trent Herbst, Ketchum, Idaho

5) Allen Moore, Two Rivers

6) Newton Marshall, St. Anne, Jamaica

7) Kristy Berington, Kasilof

8) Kris Hoffman, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

9) Zoya DeNure, Gakona

10) Robert Bundtzen, Anchorage

11) Martin Buser, Big Lake

12) Melissa Owens, Nome

13) Bruce Linton, Kasilof

14) Nicolas Petit, Girdwood

15) Bob Storey, Auckland, New Zealand

16) Jodi Bailey, Chatanika

17) Lance Mackey, Fairbanks

18) Aliy Zirkle, Two Rivers

19) Angie Taggart, Ketchkan

20) Kelley Griffin, Wasilla

21) Dallas Seavey, Willow

22) Magnus Kaltenborn, Lillehammer, Norway

23) Hans Gatt, Whitehorse, Yukon Territories

24) Billy Snodgrass, DuBois, Wyoming

25) Tom Thurston, Oak Creek, Colorado

26) Ellen Halverson, Wasilla

27) Mike Santos, Cantwell

28) Mitch Seavey, Seward

29) Judy Currier, Fairbanks

30) Ramey Smyth, Willow

31) Sebastian Schnuelle, Whitehorse, Yukon Territories

32) Scott Janssen, Anchorage

33) Gerry Willomitzer, Whitehorse, Yukon Territories

34) Paul Gebhardt, Kasilof

35) Hugh Neff, Tok

36) Jessica Hendricks, Two Rivers

37) Karin Hendrickson, Willow

38) Wattie McDonald, Stonehaven, Scotland

39) Michelle Phillips, Tagish, Yukon Territories

40) G.B. Jones, Wasilla

41) Michael Williams, Jr., Akiak

42) Lachlan Clarke, Buena Vista, Colorado

43) Ken Anderson, Fairbanks

44) Brennan Norden, Kasilof

45) Sven Haltmann, Fairbanks

46) Paul Johnson, Unalakleet

47) Kirk Barnum, Grangeville, Idaho

48) Cain Carter, Fairbanks

49) Rick Swenson, Two Rivers

50) Heather Siirtola, Talkeetna

51) Robert Nelson, Kotzebue

52) Sonny Lindner, Two Rivers

53) John Baker, Kotzebue

54) Peter Kaiser, Bethel

55) Kelly Maixner, Big Lake

56) Ed Stielstra, McMillan, Michigan

57) James Bardoner, Signal Mountain, Tennessee

58) Jessie Royer, Fairbanks

59) Cim Smyth, Big Lake

60) Matt Giblin, Juneau

61) Matt Hayashida, Willow

62) Gerald Sousa, Talkeetna

63) Justin Savidis, Willow