If you're like us, you've been waiting to put that old shopping cart you lugged home from the grocery store one day to good use. Well, what if we told you that you could participate in an event that allowed—nay, encouraged—you to dress up in a silly outfit while pushing said cart in a death fun race?

Enter the Idiotarod Toronto 2008. Based very loosely on the famous (mostly for icicle-encrusted beards) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, dogs and snow are replaced with teams of 4 to 6 people in creative costumes racing around downtown Toronto with a cart. (We're partial to Team Cosby's outfits, but we know you'll come up with something good. Maybe you could decorate your beard with icicles!) According to the website, the race—which was started a decade ago in San Francisco—is free to enter and only requires a registration and a passing familiarity with the official and unofficial rules (e.g. "All team members need to be touching the cart at all times," or, "Only feet allowed [no bikes, engines, jets, or other assistive devices]").

Happening on May 31, 2008 at 4:00 p.m., the race will begin at Grange Park and end exactly (roughly... somewhere) in Kensington, with a couple of mystery stops in between. For those of you who don't happen to have a cart on hand, the organizers certainly aren't encouraging you to steal one, so don't steal a cart. Just, you know, get one. Legally.

Photo by JamesCalder.