NEMO -- Dane Van Nosdeln ran around a short course Saturday at the Nemo Guest Ranch, warming up for a race. You could say he was toilet training.

Van Nosdeln was part of a team of teachers from Rosebud and Pine Ridge that came to Nemo for the Nemo “500” Outhouse races, a fundraiser for the Nemo Volunteer Fire Department.

This was the fourth year for the races, and this group of teachers has participated twice before. In 2009, they won the race -- and the award for best theme.

“Last year, we had the ‘Little Outhouse on the Prairie,’” Kim Marsh said. “Our slogan was ‘Potty like it’s 1899.’”

The group’s first entry was Cool Runnings, team captain Kate Haswel said.  For 2010, they brought Pot O’ Gold and hoped for a Saint Potty’s Day victory for their Irish-themed outhouse.

Toilet humor was everywhere at the outhouse races -- but only some of it is tasteful enough to repeat here.

As Mary Schlather said, “What happens in the outhouse stays in the outhouse.”

The rules of the race are simple: Each team builds its own outhouse of whatever materials it wants. The outhouses can be on wheels -- which worked best in the thawing conditions -- or skis. Teams of four or five push the outhouse along the course with one member “on the pot.”

Halfway through the course, the teams stop for a fire drill, each member running around their outhouse, placing a roll of toilet paper on a plunger three times.

The course continued around a hill to the finish line.

Sixteen teams ran the course. Coming up with the best name was just as important as winning the race for some teams.

“We just want to win best of show,” Patrick Czerny said. “We have a hard time competing with this heavy can.”

Czerny said his Eagle Distributing-sponsored team brings a different beer can outhouse to each year’s race. This year’s design was Fat Tire.

“I think we upgraded our taste,” Czerny said.

Some teams had their own cheering sections. Pot O’ Gold cultivated a following by handing out homemade “St. Potty’s Day” patches and green beads.

“I think we have about 40 people here,” Haswel said, referring to people cheering for his team.

Whether it was the instant fan base or previous experience, Pot O’ Gold took the race championship with a time just over 1-1/2 minutes. Most teams topped the two-minute mark.

“Last year, we were at 1 minute, 30 seconds flat,” Marsh said. “We wanted to beat ourselves.”

While the time was three seconds slower than the previous year, the closest anyone came was almost 10 seconds slower.

Entry fees and raffle-ticket sales at the races went to help the Nemo Volunteer Fire Department. Fire Chief Jerry Hood said the department needs to buy a utility terrain vehicle, which is similar to a four-wheeler, to enable first responders to reach people faster.

“Whenever you can sponsor something that benefits the community, it’s great,” Hood said. “More people come out because it’s fun.”