The Plunges Are Coming!

As many Cape May County residents are just waking up on Jan. 1, getting ready for their New Year’s Day feast, watching football or perhaps enjoying Mummers in Philadelphia, at 1 p.m. this city will mark the First Day at the Beach with a 5K run and Beach Nut Dip at 2 p.m. at the Ninth Street Beach opposite the Music Pier.
Runners, dippers and spectators should bring a “Message in a Bag” of non-perishable food items for the benefit of the Ocean City Food Cupboard.
This New Years Day event will be the first of three now famous Cape May County quick dips into the chilly Atlantic Ocean by hearty bathers, also known as “polar bears.”
Those who have a desire to swim, or at least dash into the frigid surf, but who miss the Ocean City plunge, for one reason or another, should not despair.
Another event, that one in Wildwood, will be held on Jan. 16 in the ocean near Wildwoods Convention Center.
That plunge will benefit Special Olympics.
The Wildwood Plunge will take place at The Wildwoods Convention Center.
This annual plunge is catching on throughout southern Jersey and beyond. Complete with the excitement of a motorcycle rally from Camden to the Wildwood boardwalk, hot tubs, indoor facilities for registration, changing and more, the Wildwood Plunge has grown in popularity each year.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run, a volunteer effort by the Law Enforcement community of New Jersey to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics New Jersey, sponsors that plunge, as well as one in Seaside Heights on Feb. 27.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics New Jersey was ranked number two in the world for raising nearly $2.2 million in 2008.
Special Olympics New Jersey provides year-round sports training and Olympic-type competition in 24 sports for more than 18,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities, all completely free of charge.
After dunking in the cold briny deep off Wildwood in January, some super hearty polar bears may be thickening their skin for still another, and wildly popular event, which has grown into an almost mini-Mardi Gras in Sea Isle City.
That event, the 16th annual Sea Isle City Polar Bear Plunge will be held on Feb. 13, 2010.
The afternoon event begins and ends in a huge tent adjacent to LaCosta Cocktail Lounge, 40th and J.F. Kennedy Boulevard, a short block from the surf and sand.
A run will be held on February 14, 2010.
Proceeds of that chilly dip in the surf benefit Sea Isle City’s tourism fund.
When that dip is over, most Cape May County polar bears return to hibernation until Memorial Day when the ocean is (hopefully) a lot warmer than in winter.