Normally, before this past December the answer to that question would have easily been PURPLE however, being part of the Capital City Crushers it has morphed into green & black!
Being a member, not only do we skate & kick some major ass, but we get out in the community... you know fundraising, derby awareness, chili contest judges, parades, and of coarse the POLAR PLUNGE!!!
Saturday, January 29th, started off as a usual cold, breezy, Kansas morning, then it became a whole lotta crazy! The Polar Plunge is a major winter event here in Topeka, groups & individuals get together to raise money for the Special Olympics through a 5k, plunge, meal, & silent auction. The crushers brought four 5K strutters & 15 PLUNGERS!!! They raised around $29,000 for the Special Olympics and we won the award for largest group diving in at once!!! When you see the swim on TV, you'll see most groups dressed up with some theme or another. The crushers on the other hand dressed in derby gear with a more strippable ease to it. I'm talking about the less clothing the better! You wanted to be able to get out of those ice cold clothes as fast as possible! As it began, groups lined up, we were about middle. While waiting you notice things... like they had cut at least 10 inches of ice out of the plunge hole, how many coats the audience members were wearing, when you huddle you can truly feel the warmth & your goose bump count increasing tremendously...to numbers that you didn't even know were there! Honestly, the coldest part was the waiting. When it was our turn the whole park new it! Our captain led our chant then we charged into that frigid water with no fear. They made sure to have the side note of "Please do not curse when entering the water," and what was the first words coming out of my mouth .... ha! But hey if I was going to do the plunge I was going to do it! No, I didn't go under, but I made my way to the back & hi five those lucky bastards wearing the orange suits! Then I made my way back through everyone else going in (the rookies had to lead the charge), didn't stop for comment and straight into the girls tent to strip off those frozen clothes.
Afterwards, we all gathered, collected our goodie bags/sweatshirts and headed to the party for chili dogs & beer! This was my first ever polar plunge, so now I can check that off the "list of things to do in life" list! All-in-all it was a great experience and I plan on being dressed in the green in black in that sand in 2012!
In the car heading to The Vineyard for lunch... then Paul was the lucky one to warm up my feet!
