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Above: While all participants received handmade awards, the Rabid Squirrel's top award goes to the runner, by vote of participants, who crosses the finish line with the best story. Kat Norris took home the trophy after getting lost, being stung by bees, seeing a bear -- and still finishing fifth.

The organizers of the Rabid Squirrel, the race that is our choice for a Shorty as the Best New Event in 2011, say you've got to be nuts to try this 8.4-mile trail race in Hanging Rock State Park. From their description of the course, a few gimmicks and the experiences, we've got to agree.

"Because it is so tough, we actually wanted to scare people off who weren't prepared," organizer Derek Cernak writes by email about the inaugural and invitational race in August. "We don't want anybody to not enjoy themselves, ya know?! And considering we had three expert trail runners get lost in the woods ... Plus we liked the informality of the process. Everybody who sent in their photo of their brain (a photo of a nut) was given a test that they had to fail, then they were 'accepted.'''

For a $10 entry fee -- paid in all nickels -- runners climbed Moore's Knob and Hanging Rock, which offer views for miles in all directions, except on this one foggy August race morning.

"The course goes by and through a lake, sand, several streams, forest, boulders, outcroppings and trails," Cernak writes. "The finish line was Hanging Rock itself! I could throw out elevation and atmospheric numbers (it was well over 90 degrees) to tell how hard it was, but what tells the story the most is that most of our average mile times were over 20 minutes -- even amongst our three six-minute mile guys. ...

"We had deer, swarms of bees and bears. Yes, there was indeed a bees nest shattered on the course that people had to traverse (this was not on purpose) and one of the runners saw a bear."

Cernak didn't have to truck in mud to turn a course in a state park into an adventure race, but he did add fun to the fray. Volunteers along the course might fire a water balloon your way, for example. 

"At each peak, each runner had to fiddle through a bucket of nuts, find the one with their initials on it, yell 'I am nuts' and chuck it off the mountain," Cernak says. "Each runner got a custom bib with an insanity-themed trail nickname on it. Course directions were printed at the bottom. Nicknames ranged from 'Leeches & Scream' to 'Wild Turkey' to 'Ahhhhhh!'" 

Winston-Salem's Arthur Johnson, who finished second in one hour, 49 minutes and 40 seconds, says the grueling climbs weren't "for the faint at heart for sure." 

And trophy-winning Kat Norris of Lewisville adds, "Start to finish, this was an insane, free-spirited event and was definitely like nothing I've experienced before."

I'm nuts enough that I hope I get my chance.

Below: Lewisville's Adam Norris heads toward the Rabid Squirrel finish line.