The historical significance the late Babe Southwick made to sprint mushing was the cause of much celebration Sunday.

A largely grassroots effort ensured the 50th anniversary of the race named in Southwick’s honour went off without a hitch at Yukon Horsepacking Adventures on Fox Lake.

Host Armin Johnson slid to victory in the 15-mile event, earning a second straight inscription on the Babe Southwick Memorial Trophy.

“It was nice,” he said of the victory. “Everybody came together for this thing to happen. It all came together. Everybody had to fight through the heat though. The dogs really had to work.”

Johnson said the race has been held every year since 1965, except 2006 when there was a lack of snow, and 2007 when the Canada Winter Games were held here.

The Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon put on this year’s event, previously hosted by the Rendezvous society and staged in the Yukon capital.

C&D Feeds chipped in $500, which helped form a small race purse.

According to Star archives, the colourful Southwick and her dog team from Destruction Bay registered for the 1965 Sourdough Rendezvous race, then held over multiple days.

The 40-year-old secured a spot in the top-five after the first stage of the sprint race – but it proved to be the last race she would be on the runners for.

Southwick died of a heart attack later that night in her hotel room.

Her brother-in-law, the legendary Alex Van Bibber, completed Southwick’s final two races in her honour.

Some time later, the editor of the Edmonton Journal who was on hand for the races, donated a trophy in Southwick’s honour, which went on to be awarded to the team that completed the fastest lap each year.

The race was also renamed in Southwick’s honour that year.

Typically, the race is a part of the annual Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous festival, which celebrates the territory’s heritage and frontier spirit for a week in February.

Today, events such as the axe throw, chainsaw chuck, flour pack and crowning of Sourdough Sam and Rendezvous Queen are the main draw. The Snow Shoe Shufflers and Can Can line also prove wildly popular.

But Mandy Johnson said she still remembers when the Babe Southwick race was the highlight of the week.

“This race used to be huge,” she said today. “It used to be the biggest race in the country. People from all over came to this race in the ’70s. There’s a lot of history to it.”

Mandy Johnson said she had hoped to have the race take place under the Rendezvous banner again this year with two days of racing, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“The (Rendezvous) board basically said we didn’t have enough volunteers,” she explained. “We were obviously disappointed we couldn’t have it in Whitehorse where it should be ... It’s part of our heritage.

“We wanted to keep it part of Rendezvous and keep the tradition alive.”

She hopes to see it return to the Rendezvous lineup in the future.

Mandy Johnson, who teamed up with her husband to host the race on their Fox Lake property, said 23 teams turned out for the event, which was followed by a potluck and awards ceremony.

Armin Johnson’s win ensured the trophy stayed in the family, as she had won the race in 2013 and 2012.

In a letter to the editor published in Tuesday’s Star, local resident Jessica Simon lauded the Johnsons for ensuring the tradition continued.

“It would have been a shame to have the races lapse in a landmark year,” Simon wrote.

A telephone message left with Rachel Morgan, executive director of the Rendezvous society, was not returned this morning.

Top results by category from Sunday’s 50th Babe Southwick race are as follows:

15-mile sled race

1. Armin Johnson (54:34)
2. Marine Gastard (59:00)
3. Michael Badine (1:00:08)

15-mile skijor race

1. Katherine Sheepway (54:38)
2. Virginia Sarrazin (56:42)
3. Cynthia Corriveau (1:00:57)

Five-mile recreational race

1. Mandy Johnson (11:45)
2. Michael Badine (12:30)
3. Katherine Sheepway (12:35)