By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska's most grueling dog sled race started with an 11-mile jaunt around Anchorage on Saturday, a prelude to a bleak trek over 1,100 miles of wind-whipped trails in sub-zero temperatures.

Accompanied by yips and cheers, 62 mushers and their dogs slid out of the city's downtown district at the start of the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in a ceremonial stage to please the crowds in Alaska's largest city.

The actual racing will start Sunday, when dog teams head out from the tiny community of Willow north of Anchorage over icebound trails that wind through mountain passes and across frozen wilderness to the old Gold Rush town of Nome.

The mushers' starting area was less crowded than in recent years. The field is the smallest since 1999, and the overall prize purse is $560,000, cut from previous years because of economic constraints.

The race winner, who is expected to reach Nome in about nine days, will take home $50,400 and a new truck.

Bundled up against the bitter cold, camera-toting and autograph-hunting fans surrounded Iditarod stars including Lance Mackey, who has won the past four races, Martin Buser, another four-time champion, and DeeDee Jonrowe, a perennial contender.

Lesser-known Iditarod competitors also basked in the crowd's attention, as they prepared to set off on the race. Among them was Anchorage funeral home owner Scott Janssen, who dubs himself "The Mushin' Mortician."

"I tell all the mushers that are better than me that nobody likes getting followed by a tow truck or a hearse. I'm an undertaker, so they might as well pull over and let me pass," he said with a laugh as he prepared for his start.

His goal for the race is to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, he said.

Newton Marshall, a Jamaican musher being mentored by Mackey, posed for photos and reflected on his rookie race last year, when he finished 47th. He expects improvement this year, he said.

"Last year was too cold for me. This year, I hope, will be a little bit warmer," he said.

Zoya DeNure, a fashion model-turned-musher, took the run seriously on Saturday, even though it was only ceremonial.

"I'm not just going along for a camping trip. This is a race," DeNure said.

The event commemorates a famous 1925 rescue mission that sent life-saving diphtheria medicine to Nome by sled-dog relay.

(Editing by Tim Gaynor and Jim Christie)