HIBBING — Jarrod Atkinson always wanted to do a Polar Plunge, so the Minnesota newcomer had to do it when the event came to Hibbing.
Minnesota served up its signature March weather stretch for the occasion. Friday was sunny and 60 degrees. Saturday, the afternoon of the Iron Range Polar Plunge, wind gusts and temperatures were both in the 20s.
It wasn’t southern Utah, that’s for sure.
“Think Las Vegas and desert. Hot desert,” Atkinson said.
Clad in shorts, Tie-dye tank top and Crocs, sunglasses and a neon yellow lace skirt, he emphatically took the plunge into Carey Lake.
“If you’re gonna do it, why not be weird?” Atkinson said afterward. “And it’s for a good cause.”
The Iron Range Polar Plunge raised more than $25,000 from 117 participants for the Special Olympics Minnesota. Formerly run through Grand Rapids, the event has generated $545,226 in its 14-year history.
That cause is what brought Craig Platt and Jeremy Lease to Hibbing.
It was Platt’s first plunge, but Lease would be considered a veteran at 14 times. His niece has autism and he used to travel to Duluth for the plunge as a way to support her.
“They don’t get to live the life I get to live, that’s why I love it,” Lease said.
The two friends dubbed themselves the “Frost Bite Fools” as they stood side by side on the makeshift dock. They donned American flag capes and sunglasses with red, white and blue head bands.
True to form for a Polar Plunge, they were also shirtless and in shorts.
“I think it’s gonna be a little chilly, I think it’s more the ambient air than it is the water,” Platt said. “We know what frozen water feels like.”
