ESTEVAN - Fresh Air Fitness is inviting the community to sign up for the Energy Dash and Splash.
The event, planned for March 12, 2022, will consist of two parts – the dash, which is a two-kilometre, 4K or 5K run that may require the participants to get through the snow; and a splash – a Dam cold dip at Boundary.
The participants may choose to join both activities or just partake in the polar bear swim.
The event will be first of its kind fundraiser for Estevan's free outdoor gym.
Peggy Rohatyn, who runs Fresh Air Fitness alongside Debbie Knight, said that while it will be the first time hosting this public event, they had a chance to try out polar bear dip at Boundary once before.
"Last year we did a little trial of it. With restrictions, we had only 10 people. We just wanted to see how it would go. So we did a trial run last year, but this is the first year it's going to be open," Rohatyn said, adding that some of those who did the dip last spring have already registered to do it again this year.
Woodlawn Regional Park partnered with Fresh Air Fitness for this event. And the idea of organizing polar bear swims at Boundary Dam was originally brought up by Rebecca Westling, who used to be the destination marketing communications consultant for the City of Estevan, and suggested that people should use Estevan's asset – year-round open water at Boundary Dam.
"We are the only city that has open water like that at that time of the year because of the dam. Most people that do polar bear dips have to break the ice. And we have open water," Rohatyn said.
This year the event will be bigger than the run and/or the dip. Rohatyn said they hope to have bonfires on the beach and hot chocolate for when the people get out of the water.
However, the participation will be limited.
"It's been limited to 100 people, just because we want to be able to keep an eye on everything that's going on. This is our first year opening it up, so we want to be able to know what we can handle," Rohatyn said.
First responders will be on-site and potentially in the water to ensure everyone's safety. But unlike traditional polar bear swims, Estevan's dip should be safer, as there will be no ice, to begin with. However, the water will still be really cold.
The plan is to start at the Beach Treats and run for as far as participants want to get warmed up. Once the first group will get running, those who just want to do the dip will go in the water. And then the runners will come back and make their dip as well.
"It'll be up to you whether you do the run or not. Some people just don't run but walk. But there'll be both options for them," Rohatyn explained.
Fresh Air Fitness was limited as to what they could do for fundraising over the past two years because of the pandemic, and they hope this initiative will be successful.
"People have registered already. We've had a lot of interest in it, so I wouldn't be surprised if we sell out on this one. But we'll see," Rohatyn said.
"We'd like to grow this into quite a big event, it could be a big tourist event for Estevan. But we know that as of right now we have to make sure that we can handle what we've got."
The registration for the event is now open at https://events.runningroom.com/hm/index.php. Rohatyn added that if there are people that want to participate, but don't do online registrations, they can reach out to her or Knight and they will help.
