Dave – Another great start to the year, it’s important to have fun and laugh at yourself

This was our 5th year for this event. It’s always tough getting up in the morning after partying hard the night before, but it’s a great way to start the new year. It’s only a short swim and a one mile run on the beach, but you get rewards/penalties for how many clothes you wear and if you drink a beer between the swim and run. I always do pretty well get minutes taken off for both categories.

This year we had been to a 70’s theme NY’s eve party and I was dressed a John Travolta, we had a blast and danced the night away to around 2am. I had 2 costumes planned and decided to go for the Sexy Strappy Hollow-Out Brazilian Bikini Bottom Swimwear Swimsuit as I could make use of the wig Judy wore the night before. It was a good choice as my alternative was the Sexy Collared Bow Tie Bodysuit Thong Butler Teddy Costume but someone else showed up wearing the same, although he did cover up a lot more than I would have. I parked across the road at Crabby Bills where we have breakfast afterwards and strutted down to the beach.

It was a cool morning, overcast, 63 degrees and windy. We waited around for 30 minutes until everyone turned up, we never start on time. By now my jaw was already shivering and we hadn’t even got in the 65 degree water.

The wind had started to really pickup and the temperature falling fast. By now the water had really started to whip up and several people opted not to swim. We did discuss swimming parallel to the shore but opted to do our usual swim out to the buoy, around it and back. We started north of the buoy as we knew the water would push us south and in we charged. The swim out wasn’t too bad, everyone was pretty close to each other as we got near the buoy. Bill was the closest, then me, and the other 3 swimming were just south of me. We were now south of the buoy and tried to swim towards it but after about 30 seconds I look up and I’m now about 30 yards south of where I started, Bill wasn’t making any ground nor were any of the others. At this time we decided we had to swim to shore to save ourselves, the wind was now stronger.

As you can see from the GPS route how much the wind pushed us down the beach. As I was swimming back I remember thinking about how crazy this was, we’re all still drunk from the night before and now we’re swimming to save our life’s, I was praying we all made it back safely. Luckily we did as we all got close to shore and was able to stand up and walk out, checking we had all made it. The video below doesn’t really do it justice.

Now we all had to run back up to the start line and then start the mile run. We started off together, I think still recovering from the swim and feeling thankful that we made it, none of us had a beer this year. I started to push the pace and put some distance between me and the rest of the group, turning round at the half mile and now running into the wind. The wind was now gusting around 40 mph with no protection, the temperature had dropped to 55 degrees and it was a real struggle to make ground. I was pretty confident with the lead I had built up that no one was going to catch me and just kept pushing forward, high fiving the others as I passed them. By the time I got to the finish line, half of the spectators had bailed because of the conditions. We had a quick beer and then headed off for breakfast.

The conversation was largely focused on how scared we all were in the swim and that it wasn’t a good idea. But we had a great time as always and then proceeded to my truck in the parking lot. We piled as many people as we could into it and then the others tried to get some protection from the wind standing behind the door. We hung out for over an hour, finishing off the beer that was left from the night before and just having a blast talking about all the previous years races and the fun we all have. This is one time where it’s all about having fun, starting the year off with friends and doing what we love. I know it’s late posting but I wish everyone a “Hippy” New Year for 2018 and may you all stay healthy and achieve your goals.