Like every year on the 1st of january, there's the Polar bear swim. The idea is to go swim in the cold sea water, even if it's snowing, windy, rainy... Very popular in Vancouver, the polar bear swim gathers an average of 1500 peeps, with a record of more than 2100 in 2000. The water temparetur is usually around 7ºC (45ºF), and as you can imagine, it is really hard to convince yourself that this is fun... So here in Vancouver, they decided to make it as a race. Imagine more than 1500 peoples in there swim suit, or even costumes, running at the water at the same time, on a beach that this year is half covered by snow, and you'll have an idea very close to what I'm about to go to.
You can have a better look on the Flickr group about this event, where you can discover the very funny costumes that some are wearing, or see the event page for more info.
to be continued...