Polar Bear Plunge

Pretty freaking sweet.
We were lured into the Plunge by gregarious Unilocaler Paul W. The event benefitted Maryland Special Olympics, and there were a ton of people there. Paul organized our tailgate, and it was great. There were sausages, doughnuts, warming libations, and good times. We will definitely do it again!
Things I will remember for next year:
NO ONE is looking at me, they are too concerned with freezing their jubblies off. Wear whatever I want.
Bring flip flops or water shoes.
Get a parking pass so I can tailgate.
Bring a folding chair so I don’t have to sit on muddy straw inside the tent again.
Snot, once outside the nasal cavity, freezes rather quickly.
Fat-​among other things-​shrinks in the cold.

The cold is only in your mind. because the rest of your body is already too numb to care.
Nothing says UYE better than a bunch of Unilocalers staring into the eye of Mother Nature by baring it all and leaping into frigid water in the middle of a blizzard. And to top it all off, the Unilocalers helped raise funds for the MD Special Olympics.
Thanks to PaulM for organizing this outing. I brought the libations to keep the group warm or at least alter their perception of warmth. But I think the camaraderie was a better warmth for the heart.
Some notes for the next Polar Plungers.
1. Bring reef walkers or shoes that you can use to walk on the cold sand and into the water.
2. Use a bright colored bag to hold your clothes so you can spot it in the massive throng of people.
3. Wear thermal underwear.
4. Leave the little kids at home. Really, it’s too cold and there were many of them getting lost/​separated.
5. Bring a Winnebago (optional)
6. Kendall wants an electric blanket and power source for the next time.

As an homage to my body’s reaction to freezing temperatures last Saturday, I’ll keep this review small.
Absolutely marvelous. I cannot think of any other way I’d rather spend a snowy, frigid, blustery winter day than at the Polar Bear Plunge with all my Plunge buddies.

Yes, this is for the 2010 Polar Bear Plunge, held at Sandy Point Park near the Bay Bridge. This was our second year at the event. Last year — 17 plungers, 13 supporters, $ 3K raised.
This year — 12 actual plungers, 2 supporters, over $ 4K raised.
Let the history books honour the plungers: Michael B, Juliana C, Mintcake W, Chris T, Annie W, Alok, Brigitte, Christina, Zach G, Justin S and Fenny L. Thank you Jay and Tony P for coming along to support us.
The highlights for me:
1. THE GHOSTOWN
Last year me and Michael waited for 2 hours to get into the frikkin parking lot — there was that many people — so we left DC at 7.30am to arrive and… drove straight into the parking lot — nobody was there — or at least a lot of people saw the weather forecast and cancelled.
2. THE FIRST SNOWFLAKE
Came at about 10.00am — and did not stop until 5.00pm. We plunged at 1.00pm in about 3 inches of snow. I still cannot believe we did that.
3. THE FIRST DRAM
Tony P — I don’t know if it was the quality of the Nectar D’Or — which is my fave whiskey of all time — or the fact that I drank it before noon, or the fact that we were standing outside in a blizzard about to disrobe and jump into freezing cold water, but that whiskey you gave me was the best whiskey I ever tasted in my life — and believe me, I have consumed a lot of whiskey. It was also very good of you to bring your friend Mr Clynleish.
4. THE TAILGATE —
An ungodly amount of food, beer, whiskey and crack — it was really tremendous tremendous fun. You cannot appreciate a fire until you have spent enough time in the cold — and I know — I know that there are men and women of Unilocal who will lie abed awake and think themselves accursed they were not there, on this, Polar Bear Plunge Day.
5. THE PLUNGE
There is no two ways about it — frikkin cold. the Coldest I have ever been. Mind numblingly cold. I saw Zach walk up to the diver security guy and give him a high five — I had to do the same — I wanted to say thank you to him for providing security /​safey — I don’t think words actually came out of my mouth. I went under then I got the hell out. Then I realized that I had not been as strategic as Zach, Justin and Michael in disrobing and my shit was all over the beach and it took my ages to pick it all up and get to the warming tent — and all the while I was thinking thank God I did not force Thing1 and Thing 2 to come along this year as it would have gotten really ugly.
6. POST PLUNGE OMNE TRISTE EST
No it frikkin isn’t — no food is sweeter, no drink is better, no warmth is more welcome, no cigar more robust, no friendship more real and profound, than what you enjoy after that madness.
I love you guys — and I can’t wait until next year (actually– hell yes I can wait — 363 days and counting — but it will be 60 degress and a walk in the park next year).

As Paul M summed it up so eloquently: «if they made prisoners do it, there would be an outcry — we did it willingly».
For those who are unfamiliar with the Polar Bear Plunge, it’s an annual event held at Sandy Point where a bunch of normally smart and educated people do the most ridiculously stupid thing ever… run half naked into the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of January. And in this year’s instance — in the middle of a major snow storm! But hey, it’s for MD Special Olympics, so it’s all in the name of good karma, right?
Fine. You caught me. I’m not going to lie. I really didn’t do it for the charity. Quite honestly, I would have done this Plunge even if it was to raise money for Leman Brothers. My sense of adventure and radar for making myself ridiculous knows no limits. However, in my defense, when I made the decision to do the Plunge (and raise the $ 50 Plunge donation/​fee), it was 2 weeks ago, when DC was hit with a beautiful and balmy 70 degree weather. Who knew that in a short 14 days, the temperature would drop to 17 degrees, and dump 6″+ of snow during the event?!?
Although there were some hiccups, for the most part, the organizers of the Polar Bear Plunge did a great job! There was a huge festival tent (think circus big top sized), that held all the vendors, food carts, activities and even a band. Pretty impressed. Also impressive, where the nicely heated changing tents for the Plungers. I will say, that the tents were very key for not dying pre and post-​Plunge. As we were not lucky enough to score parking at the beach (there was a special lottery held), we parked at AACC, which had a constant flow of shuttle buses to bring attendees to the event. However, on the way back — due to the snow and the tragic road conditions, there was nearly a 1 hour wait (in the raging snow storm) to get back on the buses. So yeah, a minor boo there — but I really can’t blame the organizers… the snow really snuck up on us.
So the Plunge itself. In spite of my constant complaining of the cold, I’m actually super excited and glad that decided to the Plunge this year. I mean, if I’m going to do a Plunge — I’m extremely glad that I got to do it in the middle of a frickin’ blizzard. Talk about a great story to tell (plus some minor bragging rights!)! However, for ANYONE who told you that the water was warmer then the air, I’m going to call BS! I was so cold and numb that I couldn’t *feel* the water! Also, no one thought to tell me this, but the beach sand that would burn your feet in the summer? Yeah, they will conversely give you frostbite in the winter. Especially if it’s snowing. Oh goodness! Finally — I knew this was a popular event, but I was seriously not expecting the massive throng of Plungers! I can only imagine how many more people would have come out, if the weather was nice! Goodness!
So yeah, it took me over 5 hours before I was warm again, and all night, I dreamt of freezing to death. Hmmm, wonder why. Even still, I’m insanely glad I did this! Not absolutely sure I’ll be back next year (I’m hoping this is like childbirth and I’ll forget the pain by the time next year’s registration rolls around)…but I’m infinitely glad I did it at least once in my life. And even more glad that I did it THIS year. In 17 degree weather. In the middle of a snow storm. Because I really am that awesome. Heh.
P. S. A huge THANK YOU to Paul M for not only organizing our team, but for letting me take the FTR for this (really! I waiting this long, because I was trying to be nice and let Paul take it. But since he gave me the go ahead… yeah, I’m the FTR piggie! WOOHOO!!!)…
P. P. S. A loud round of applause to my fellow Plungers from Team Young Gifted and Wet and all who came out to support us!!! Also, an additional and special thanks to Justin for the grill (who brought the brats? They were AMAZING!) and Tony for the scotch… this was also my very first tailgating party, and it was DELICIOUS!
P.P.P.S. — video of my Plunge… I’m the… ummm.panda. Don’t judge!

So. I didn’t take the reports of impending snow too seriously this past Saturday, but as I was getting ready to leave my apartment at around 9:30 am, it started falling fast. I crept along the beltway towards Sandy Point at an even 30 miles per hour, and what should have been a 30-​minute drive turned into an hour and a half. But thanks to Paul’s quick thinking I was able to park my car near the plunge site. Paul, Tony, Michael, Justin, Annie, Al and I had a grand time drinking whiskey and celebrating the fact that we had made it. Until…
We realized we had fifteen minutes until our 1:00 plunge, so we hauled ass out of the parking lot, but not fast enough. By the time Kendall and I made it to the heated women’s changing tent, the announcer was shouting a three-​minute warning. By the time I was removing my boots, we had one minute. I didn’t have time to note where exactly my clothes were landing, or to locate my flip flops, or to find the rest of our group, so we both ran to the beach barefoot, just in time for the «Ready? PLUNGE!» So we did.
It was pandemonium. Until this point I hadn’t seen the beach at all — my first glimpse was as I was hurtling towards the water, propelled by hundreds of people behind me, and the sight of the slate gray sky, choppy water and line of cops in wetsuits was a little intimidating.
Fortunately at this point, the snow on the ground/​freezing sand had turned my feet nearly numb, and I couldn’t have turned around if I wanted to. So I ran into the water, and it turns out that was the fun part! I didn’t have time to freak out about what I was doing. I dunked myself thoroughly, and I was happy to splash around, but more people kept streaming in, so I ran back the way I came.
Then came the hard part: we couldn’t find our clothes. Huge tent, a gazillion women (some bare-​chested or –assed, in the middle of changing) — I must have elbowed countless people in my quest to find our pile, but with no luck. Everything on the ground was wet, or sandy, or trampled; as time passed I knew my clothes would be unwearable. But after a half hour of circling the tent barefoot and wet-bikini’d, Kendall spotted the inner lining of her winter coat and we were golden.
The combination of wet suits and strong wind throwing snow in our faces as we trudged a trail back to the parking lot that was barely visible, with no end in sight, was intense. But we had more whiskey and port waiting for us. A while later I was prepared to go back to the beach to take pictures of the 3:00 plunge, but news reached us that it was cancelled due to weather conditions.
So we sat in traffic for a while, I dropped a bunch of people off at a satellite parking lot, and then I sleepily drove another two hours home. The rest of the evening was spent reading in the bathtub and dozing on the couch.
All in all, our team of 17 people (about 10 of which showed up on Saturday) raised over $ 4,000 for the Maryland Special Olympics. The final amount between all the teams, as of now, is $ 2,832,452.79. I’m so glad we got to plunge when we did, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat — I’m looking forward to our team reunion next month, and next year I’ll bring a waterproof camera and crocs ;).