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Hundreds Take The 'Polar Plunge' Into The Mon River

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburghers stripped down for the annual "Polar Plunge" Wednesday morning.

It's a New Year's tradition at the Mon Warf, and hundreds of people plunged into the chilly 36-degree water.

"It's so intense. You wake up, you are so alive! This just wakes you up for the year," Dave Milligan said.

Some even dressed in very "creative" costumes for the occasion.

Some even jumped together, like one group of guys, who got a friend to agree that she'd jump if they raised a thousand dollars for charity.

They ended up raising $1400.

"I am glad I did it. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't," Erin Jacobs told KDKA's Rick Dayton.

There's always one in the crowd looking to do something nutty, like one fire chief visiting from Georgia.

"I just turned 50 two days ago. I wanted to do something wild and crazy for my 50th birthday, and this was the best we could come up with," Barry Cooper said.

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