The good news is you don't have to jump in the cold lake at Piedmont Park to take place in the inaugural "Piedmont Plunge" on Saturday.
The bad news is you do have to jump in the swimming pool. And stay in there for awhile if you hope to snag a prize.
The Piedmont Park Conservancy said Monday it's starting its own version of those popular "Polar Bear Plunges," wherein certain hardy types (hardy = a little nutty, if you ask us) wade into big, frigid bodies of water, often on New Year's Day. The park is home to Lake Clara Meer, but rather than hire a flotilla of life rafts, they've slated the 1st Annual Piedmont Plunge for the Aquatic Center.
Or, as it’s rather chillingly described on the conservancy’s web site, “The icey waters of the Piedmont Park Aquatic Center.”
(Yikes! At the risk of throwing, uh, cold water on this claim, current weather forecasts call for a high of 64 degrees in Atlanta on Saturday. Still, the temps will hover in the low to mid-50s for two days before that, so … “icey” it is.)
The 1 p.m. plunge is the centerpiece of a larger event the conservancy and Jezebel magazine are hosting Saturday. Running from noon to 2:30 p.m., it will bring a number of top fitness and beauty experts to the park; that event is free. But it’ll cost you to take the plunge, which is a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization that helps maintain and improve Atlanta’s signature park. Afterwards, there’ll be complimentary hot chocolate, s’mores and, well, more, for the “hardy” types.
Prizes will be go to the plungers with the craziest costume, the farthest jump and the “longest soak.”
Tickets are $30 online through January 28th and $35 at the door.
For more information, go to piedmontpark.org.
