Though he finished seventh last year for his 10th top-10 finish, Seavey, 53, wasn't the top Seavey in the race. That honor went to son Dallas, who won the race.

Home town: Sterling

Winnings: 486,054

Web site: http://www.ididaride.com

Past results: Best finish in 18 Iditarods: 1st in 2004

After a one-year retirement, King, 57, returned to the Iditarod last year, but he scratched for the first time in an illustrious career when his team stalled on the way to Unalakleet.

Home town: Denali Park

Winnings: 808,720

Web site: http://www.huskyhomestead.com

Past results: Best finish in 21 Iditarods: Wins in 1993, 1996, 1998 and 2006

Redington, 37, is coming off back-to-back top-seven finishes. He has twice won the Iditarod's sportsmanship award.

Home town: Wasilla

Winnings:

Web site: http://www.teamredington.com/

Past results: Best finish in 11 Iditarods: 6th in 2012.

Ulsom, 26, was a farmer in Norway before moving in 2011 to become a musher in Alaska. He is part of the Racing Beringia project, an online education program that explores ancient Beringia -- the ice-free steppe in Yukon, Alaska and Russia -- from the runners of dogsleds.

Home town: Roros, Norway

Winnings:

Web site: http://www.racingberingia.com/

Past results: Rookie

Lindner, 63, placed 14th last year, his third top-15 finish in four years. He's made 17 trips to Nome and owns five top-10 finishes. "I enjoy running the Iditarod," he said. "It's become a habit."

Home town: Two Rivers

Winnings: 190,897

Past results: Best finish in 17 Iditarods: 2nd in 1981

Burmeister, 36, is poised to make another strong run after placing fourth last year. "We are excited to be (back) with a young talented team that is now experienced and ready to take it up a notch," he said.

Home town: Nome

Winnings: $184.119

Past results: Best finish in 13 Iditarods: 4th in 2012.

Kaiser, 25, has quickly become a contender: 28th as a rookie in 2010, eighth in 2011 and fifth last year. "Our family has always had dogs, and I've been mushing since I was a kid," he said.

Home town: Bethel

Winnings: 66,500

Web site: http://www.kaiserracing.com

Past results: Best finish in three Iditarods: 5th in 2012

Smyth, 36, has won the award for making the fastest run from Safety to Nome on four occasions. He's the son of Iditarod pioneer Bud Smyth and says he's been mushing "since I was big enough to stand on a sled."

Home town: Big Lake

Winnings: 169,402

Web site: http://www.perseverancespringsfarm.com/

Past results: Best finish in 11 Iditarods, 5th in 2009.

Buser, 54, became a U.S. citizen in a ceremony under Nome's burled arch in 2002 and named both of his sons after Iditarod checkpoints. He has completed all 29 Iditarods he has started.

Home town: Big Lake

Winnings: 751,320

Web site: http://www.buserdog.com

Past results: Best finish in 29 Iditarods: wins in 1992, 1994, 1997, 2002.

Mackey, 42, is the only musher to win the Iditarod and Quest in the same year (2007 and 2008) and the only one to win four straight Iditarods. He finished 22nd in last year's Iditarod.

Home town: Fairbanks

Winnings: 356,993

Web site: http://mackeyscomebackkennel.com/

Past results: Best finish in 10 Iditarods: Wins in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Baker, 50, collected his 13th top-10 Iditarod finish by placing ninth last year. He won the race in 2011, becoming the first Inupiat and the first musher from Northwest Alaska to claim an Iditarod title.

Home town: Kotzebue

Winnings: 533,733

Web site: http://www.teamjohnbaker.com

Past results: Best finish in 17 Iditarods: 1st in 2011

Williams, 27, gets better each time he does the Iditarod -- he was 26th as a rookie in 2010, 13th the year after that and eighth last year. "I hope to continue to improve," he said.

Home town: Akiak

Winnings: 49,400

Past results: Best finish in three Iditarods: 8th in 2012

Alaska-born Hendricks, 28, graduated from North Pole High. She was the rookie of the year in 2003, placed 15th in 2005 and 24th in 2006, but she scratched in her last two starts.

Home town: Two Rivers

Winnings: $37,470

Web site: http://www.ironpearlkennels.com/

Past results: Best finish in three Iditarods: 15th in 2005

Perano, 40, began running dogs in 2000. He worked as a handler in Minnesota for a few years and trained in British Columbia for one year before moving his team to Willow last summer.

Home town: Queenstown, New Zealand

Winnings: 1,049

Web site: http://www.nzsleddog.com

Past results: Best result in one Iditarod: 39th in 2012

FFiedler, 59, is back for the first time since 2010, when he scratched. "After a few years off and a new bionic ankle, I'd like to give Iditarod another try," he said. "Iditarod is like visiting an old friend. You always want to go back."

Home town: Willow

Winnings: 196,693

Past results: Best finish in 15 Iditarods: 2nd in 2001

After moving to Alaska in 2007 for his dental residency, Maixner, 37, started Mad Stork Kennel with two dogs, both of them pregnant females. Now he has 60 dogs and is in the Iditarod for the third time.

Home town: Big Lake

Winnings: 2,549

Web site: http://madstorkkennel.com/

Past results: Best finish in two Iditarod: 30th in 2011

Moore, 55, won last month's Quest. "My dog team consists of several experienced adults with the remainder being happy, enthusiastic young dogs with tons of energy and no real direction," he said.

Home town: Two Rivers

Winnings: 7,947

Web site: http://www.spkdoglog.com/

Past results: Best finish in four Iditarods: 24th in 2011

Lanier, 73, placed 33rd last year after winning $3,000 in gold for being the first musher to the halfway point. It was his second race since having hip surgery in 2011.

Home town: Chugiak

Winnings: 56,799

Past results: Best finish in 15 Iditarods, 18th in 2004

Beals, 21, grew up in Seward, where the historic Iditarod Trail begins. "I ran my first sled dog race at four years old," he said. "I've always wanted to run Iditarod." He placed in the 2009 Junior Iditarod for teenagers.

Home town: Seward

Winnings:

Web site: http://www.turningheadskennel.com/

Past results: Rookie