Brrrrmidji Polar Days

Several weekends ago Bemidji held it's annual Polar Days with lots of outdoor/snowy/cold events lined up. Dennis took part in the 5K Polar Challenge. It looks cold, but it was actually pretty nice about 20 degrees, no sun though and the wind was blowing! There were about 120 participants and they're off:

This is what the kids did while we waited the 20 minutes for dad to cross the finish line:

There he is. He came in 10th place. Time 22:52. He got first place in the 40-49 year olds! Not bad considering how icy it was.

Then we went over to watch the polar plunge. The polar plunge is where half-crazy people jump in the freezing cold water for fun. Usually it's for a cause or they're with an organization, but it's crazy to watch. First of all they are half naked. Second, they are standing on ice waiting to jump in the water (I was cold and could hardly have my hands out of my mittens long enough to take these pictues.) Third, they are jumping into freezing cold water. I took pictures of these girls because they are the Bemidji Roller Derby team, the girl in the red tights is a teacher at Schoolcraft. Here she is pumping herself up!

The big jump:

The race for the stairs... It's amazing to see everyone come up out of the water. They are in pure survival mode. Some people, after being in the water for only about 30 seconds came out totally confused and obviously in shock. It was wild to see.

Maybe next year, you'll see us all jump in the lake... or maybe we'll just wait until summer!