Polar plungers hit the pool for Special Olympics in Fox Lake

After a week of frigid weather, participants in Sunday’s Fox Lake Polar Plunge for Special Olympics caught a break with the temperature hovering around 40 degrees.

But if their facial expressions were an indication, any comfort they felt waiting in line was gone once they hit the chilly water.

About 150 participants took the plunge Sunday at Lakefront Park, raising more than $40,000, said Jordan Feldman, Region B director of Special Olympics Illinois.

Like last year, the event was held in a 15,000-gallon Portatank provided by the Fox Lake Fire Department that was filled with water in the low 30-degree range.

Feldman said the ice was too think to use Nippersink Lake as planned.

Participants donned costumes, ranging from a group who represented the entire “Toy Story” crew to one Special Olympics coach who dressed as “Saturday Night Live” motivational speaker Matt Foley.

The three owners of Black Lung Brewing, each dressed as beers — in a glass, keg and bottle — were among the first to take the leap.

“It’s breathtaking, but in a bad way,” Aaron Hexamer said of jumping into the frigid water of the tank.

It was the second year plunging for Hexamer, who along with partners Rob Noon and Josh Grubbs, hosted the awards ceremony at Black Lung up the street from the event.

The Fox Lake event is one of 23 plunges across the state this year, including 13 others this weekend. Feldman said Special Olympics expects to raise about $2.5 million from the events.

“When you watch the competitions and see the athletes’ accomplishments, it really does make this (polar plunge) worthwhile for people to suffer a little bit for that good cause,” Feldman said.