Cold and windy weather wasn't enough to stop the annual Don Sumanik Memorial Races from taking place this past weekend.

The races featured local star skiers John Parry and Dahria Beatty, who came away with the Don Sumanik Memorial Trophy as they led the field in their events.

The annual races, part of Cross Country Yukon's Grey Mountain Lions Club race series, also serve as a qualifying event for the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

Despite the top finishes for Parry and Beatty, both racers are over the age limit to qualify for the AWG.

"They were just there to show the rest of us how it should be done,” said Claude Chabot, Whitehorse Ski Club official.

"They're scary fast, those two.”

Beatty has been displaying her talents internationally as a member of the National Junior Team while Parry, a former Alaska Nanooks Nordic skier, will be competing on the Canada Cup circuit full time this season.

Parry considered the race an opportunity for some early season preparation and a chance to race in front of a hometown crowd.

"It's always fun to race the friends you grew up with,” said Parry. "And to do it in your hometown, we got lots of cheering out there so it was a lot of fun.”

Parry, who has taken part in three Arctic Winter Games, was able to ski with the young racers and provide guidance as they adjust to the racing circuit.

"I try to get the kids just to race and not worry about the results,” he said.

"Just get into the habit of putting on the bib. It's something that should be a lot fun, it's a challenging thing but it's a place where you can take some risks and have fun with it.”

The mass start classic race kicked things off on Saturday with the midget boys and girls skiing a 3.5 kilometre course, while the older racers took on the 5 km circuit.

The top skiers for the day in the shorter distance were Natalie Hynes and Simon Cash, while David Greer and Beatty led the pack in the 5 km course.

On Sunday, with the wind cutting right to the bone, racers took part in three different distances.

Midget boys and girls skied a 3.75 km course, juvenile and junior girls went 5 km and juvenile and junior boys and open men all skied 7.5 km.

Top skiers for the day were Beatty on the 5 km course, Ian Hogeboom-Burr and Alexis Gee on the 3.75 km course and Parry for the 7.5 km.

The weekend results will be used to select the skiers for the AWG and Chabot is hopeful that the formal announcement will be made later this week.

The Cross Country Yukon High Performance Committee analyzes the race results, looking for the best combined time for the two days and then offers spots to the kids, said Chabot.

"The team will be picked on these two races and then they start fine tuning their training in preparation,” he continued.

The Arctic Winter Games are scheduled to start on March 4 with the first cross country event being the 5 km free technique race.