Are you crazy enough to join these courageous souls in the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge? Photo: TheGirlsNY/Flickr
Start the New Year off with a challenge to yourself—and a blast of frigid ocean water. That’s right, daredevils, it’s time to join the Coney Island Polar Bear Club for its traditional New Year’s Day dip into the ice-cold Atlantic. The annual swim/”run into the water screaming and immediately turn around and run back out” dates back to the club’s 1903 founding, and drew a record 3,000 participants last year in addition to loads of spectators. Proceeds from the $20 registration fee go to Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Maine that provides much-needed services and support to kids with serious illnesses and their families. Swim time is at 1pm, so there is plenty of time to sleep in and try to banish your NYE hangover through less drastic means before heading over to the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue to meet up with your fellow polar bears. Be sure to register in advance so that that you don’t chicken out when the day actually arrives, and remember to bring warm clothes, towels and surf boots or old sneakers. Sure, it sounds crazy, but ringing in 2014 as a human ice cube will surely leave you refreshed, reenergized and ready to face whatever the next 12 months have is store.
