As some retreat, others revel in the deep cold
Expected overnight deep chill leads teams to find shelter for the homeless
As the clouds broke briefly above Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, a small but welcome patch of sunlight warmed the small nook not far from City Hall where Albert L. Kennedy Jr. had gathered his belongings around him.
He was waiting for a ride to a city shelter amid the weekend's deep freeze. Anything would be better than Friday night, Kennedy said, when he slept outside, pulling a cardboard box around him to break the wind and burrowing beneath some blankets.
“I've been handling it the best way I can,” Kennedy said, as midday temperatures fell well below freezing. “You get to a destination, a little corner or something, and bundle up.”
Residents across the Baltimore region grappled with the cold as the National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory Saturday evening through this morning. Temperatures in the Baltimore region were expected to drop into the single digits Saturday night, and to 5 below with the wind chill.
Under the “Code Blue” designation issued Wednesday and set to last through Monday, city teams and nonprofit organizations have been working to find beds for the homeless. The Salvation Army distributed blankets and hot meals.
No cold weather-related deaths have been reported in the city so far this year; the city had 12 hypothermia-related deaths last year.
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore said it would close to the public today and Monday because of the cold.
While many people stayed inside, others bundled in hats, scarves and face-masks to face the cold. Still others embraced the frigid conditions.
Several hundred young men and women gathered at Luckie's Tavern at Power Plant Live for the third annual Cupid's Undie Run. Their goal seemed to be the opposite of most — the more exposed skin the better.
The event raises money for the Children's Tumor Foundation by asking people to come out, drink and then run through downtown Baltimore in their skivvies.
Kate Gibson, the event's organizer, said the particularly harsh weather this year may have “kept a couple people away,” but that more money — nearly $75,000 — had been donated this year.
“So I don't care about the smaller turnout,” she said.
The night before, Gibson had emailed registered participants to let them know that the race was still on, despite the cold, and to suggest that they “be smart” and consider wearing hats, gloves, socks, leg warmers, and scarves.
Organizers also watched runners to make sure they didn't stay outside for too long.
“For the fast runners, it's a 10-minute-max experience,” Gibson said. “For the walkers, it could be as long as a half-hour, and that's too long to be outside.”
Shortly before 2 p.m., the DJ at Luckie's gave a final warning for runners to drink up and brace themselves.
“By the way, the temperature right now, according to my iPhone, is 21 degrees,” he said — to a large cheer from the crowd.
Then the participants — dressed in Valentine's Day-inspired lingerie, superhero onesies, cartoon boxer briefs and Under Armour compression shorts — burst out of the doors of Luckie's and into a trot toward the Inner Harbor.
Among those wearing the least were Zach Skow, 31; Jason Titus, 30; and Eddie Calloway, 28, all stationed at Fort Meade — Skow and Calloway in the Air Force, Titus in the Army.
Skow and Titus — whose wife has battled a brain tumor, inspiring their participation in the event — were both wearing very small briefs with hearts on them; Calloway had on Batman boxer shorts.
“It's an awesome charity, an awesome event, raising money for kids,” Skow said upon their return from the run, when they slipped into Leinenkugel's Beer Garden next to Luckie's.
He said the extra-cold temperatures forecast for Saturday hadn't deterred them.
“We were even more pumped. A little bit nervous, but more pumped.”
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