Sunday, March 11, 2007

Polar Plunge

My camera and I hit the road to Mahomet yesterday, to watch the Law Enforcement Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for upcoming Special Olympics. When I awoke to a beautiful, sunny day, my initial thought was "darn, the water won't be as cold!" I was wrong; the water looked plenty cold from where I was standing.



The idea is that you get your team together, raise a few thousand bucks, then go jump into ice water. Fun for me, I say! I got there about 1/2 hour early, happy to find that dressing up is part of the fun. There were bikini's:




robes:



cowboys:


and condiments:


I secured my photo-worthy spot near the front early, and waited for the first team to jump. I was surprised when Team #1 turned out to be a bunch of little kids:



MM-hmmmm, all the sneaky adults taking up the rear: "You go first, and let us know how the water is..."

There were plenty more though, and every team's response to the water brought peals of laughter from the spectators.



More wimpy spectators, than brave plungers, I might add:



Here's a clip from one of the plunges:



We are SO going to do this next year! I've already started a mental list of my teammates: Melissa, Joey, and Ilaiy, and Mike, to start. I'm smart enough to know that hell would liken the temperatures of this lake before I could get Marcy to jump.

Wendy and Andrew and Reed and Davis and Max are on my team too, though they will have no idea. I'll just nonchalantly invite them to visit me, from Maryland, ignore their questions about why I'm packing the car with towels, and why we are standing in this line with people dressed like ketchup.

Heh heh hehhhhhh....don't tell them!




For more pix, see my smugmug Gallery: Polar Plunge Photos

There are also a few more movie clips on my YouTube account: Polar Plunge Video Clips

19 comments:

  1. Yeah Lori! Thanks for coming out. I'm glad you had fun.

    That team of little kids, Team Larkin, consists of about 70 folks and total they raised $17,000. for Special Olympics.

    Don and I together raised just over $2K.

    I think the total was about 225 plungers and just over $50,000 dollars.

    It just keeps getting bigger every year.

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  2. I would totally do that! I'd dress as something warming though, like a polar bear or a jar of horseradish sauce. Or a vindaloo - what would that costume look like..?

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  3. PrairieBiker: I came to be aware of it from your blog; It's amazing how much money was raised, by you and everyone! Be sure to spread the word to anyone that might want a shot of themselves on the smugmug.

    Sveny: I seem to remember a little red number that you were stunning in. Throw it in a suitcase, and I'll see you next March!

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  4. I was there too, though I missed all the plunging.

    I was with the caterers setting up the food for the after-plunge activities....

    I saw prairie_biker, but I don't think he recognized me and since I was frantically refilling the food for the starving masses, I didn't get a chance to say hi.

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  5. Looks like fun but no way would you get me in water like that! YIKES!!!

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  6. Those little cowboys are so cute!

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  7. Yeah. The little one's packin' heat.

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  8. Sorry I missed you Gamera! Anytime I don't seem to notice when I should, feel free to throw something heavy at my head.

    The food is always a great touch.

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  9. Jeez, and I think it's frigid when the water temperature here is 21c/70f! I'd be hitting the high notes after that!

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  10. You are so busted! I saw it. But I won't tell the kids :) Looks like an amazing day - but I'm freezing just looking at the pix!

    Sure wouldn't mind coming to watch next year, though! (ROADTRIP!)

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  11. brrrr

    My Grandfather, long before all these Polar Bear Plunges were popular, would jump in the creek every year on his birthday, March 28th
    Of course a creek off the Chesapeake Bay is a lot warmer than where you are.

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  12. *shudder* God, it's beyond me how anyone can actually do that. Even for charity

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  13. The bikini shirt was really nice.

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  14. You're far more brave than I. Looks like fun, though - and for a great cause, too. Well done.

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  15. This is actually for another blog post you created, but I'm not sure how many people look back on past posts for new comments, so I figured it would be better to leave my message here. I just want to say God Bless to you and your son and your family. I hope the months pass quickly and that he comes home safely. I have a two year old, and I get frightened when she falls at the playground; we can't help but worry for our kids, especially in situations such as a war. Know that he is surrounded by the light of many prayers.

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  16. It looks like a great time for a great cause.
    If anyone needs to defrost, come on down to So. Cal. it was 93 today!

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  17. Someone will have to be there to hold Baby Woof so that'll be my job...

    I'll be there to support your team!! And hand out towels!

    ;0)

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  18. r@Been trying to comment on this post for days. I think blogger must be sucking wind again.
    I want to be on your team!

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  19. Dogbait: come to think of it, there were a lot of high notes...

    Wendy: Come to watch...hmph!

    LML: Sounds like a cool guy, your grandfather.

    Jazz: C'mon! Very refreshing!

    Herblover: Yah, that was a cute bikini shirt

    Joe: Courage, Joe, courage...easy for me to say from sunny bank.

    Starfaerie: thank you very much for your kind words. (I do have all of my comments set up to be emailed to me, so I don't miss any of you!)

    Mary: Ok, I'll go swimming with Day-Z!

    Momo: You can just hold her over your head and run in; she'll never have to get wet.

    Andy: You're in!

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