Nearly everyone asks why the heck I do it; questioning why anyone in their right mind would want to jump in thirty degree water in the middle of January. My main response back is for the cause! The Polar Bear Plunge does not cost any participant a fee to sign up or anything; each 'plunger' just needs to get donations, a mere fifty dollars, with all donations going towards the Special Olympics! While the cause itself is enough incentive, another allurement would have to be Joe Flacco making an appearance and plunging every year! Since we are both huggeeee Raven's fans and as they say 'Wacko for Flacco'; our excitement should be understandable.
Jumping into thirty degree water is crazy and terrible no matter the circumstances, however this year was not as bad for I recruited my three best friends to join, and not to mention the weather was nearly ten or fifteen degrees warmer then years prior!
My friends began to freak out as it got closer and closer to our plunge time. I did not really have any tips or advice for them other then to just not think about and just run in. My sister and I made a pact the first year we did it, that if we were gonna be in the freezing cold water, we might as well do it big and go under. Soooo, I relayed this pact to them and got "are you joking?" in reply.
At 2:59pm the countdown began over the speakers; and everyones nerves set in. To force my friends to make it all the way in we all held hands so they couldn't chicken out! 3 o'clock came, and the thousands of people on the beach went charging into the piercing cold water.
There were no regrets when it was all over. While we stood shivering, covered in goose bumps in the heated tents everyone was so proud of themselves for following through with it!
