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The European Sauna Marathon includes 19 freezing ice baths, hot tub dips, and steamy saunas. It may support a key 'third pillar' of physical fitness.https://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/the-european-sauna-marathon-includes-19-freezing-ice-baths-hot-tub-dips-and-steamy-saunas-it-may-support-a-key-third-pillar-of-physical-fitness-/slidelist/67892926.cms2019-02-08T03:18:23+05:30

The European Sauna Marathon includes 19 freezing ice baths, hot tub dips, and steamy saunas. It may support a key 'third pillar' of physical fitness.

Feb 8, 2019, 03:18 IST

People have been taking saunas for centuries in Estonia. In 2014, UNESCO even put the traditional Estonian smoke sauna on its list of practices of "intangible cultural heritage of humanity."

The Estonian sauna tradition dates back to at least the 13th century, but the "Saunamaraton" has only been around for 10 years.

To enter the competition, participants have to gather up a team of four people, and pay the entrance fee of 70 Euros.

Then, at the stroke of noon, it's off to the races. 185 teams visit 19 different sauna stations in the area around Otepää.

At each sauna stop, the teams must perform three tasks. They spend 3 minutes in the sauna.

They soak in a wood-fired hot tub.

And at least one team member must brave the waves of a cold water plunge at every stop.

After that, it's off to the next sauna.

But this isn't really a test of speed: teams use cars and vans to shuttle between the stops, though there is some jogging in and out of the saunas.

“I always thought people were running because it was a race,” competitor Adriano D’Ambrosio told Estonian World. “But I now realize that we have to run just because we are so very cold!”

The "winners" of the competition are also selected at random, "to ensure no one breaks the speed limit when driving" in between the sauna stops, as Rang explained.

Scientists who've studied sauna-takers notice that the practice has some health benefits attached.

Cold plunges can be good for the body too.

Cooling down and warming up is only part of this game. "It’s about bonding with people," Rang said. "Estonians can be quite quiet most of the day, but the sauna is where we really open up, and not just through our pores."

Food and drink are important too, and sauna "masters" will offer live music, free beer, and warm snacks to their guests.

"Every dunk into the ice was like a shot of adrenaline, and warming up in the sauna afterwards helped keep the chill at bay," David Edwards, an English software engineer who lives in Estonia told the UK’s Echo News.

The winning team is gifted with their very own hot tub. With any luck, it'll get filled like this one did with hot kvass, a traditional rye drink.

Next year may be the first time that the sauna marathon crosses the Atlantic.

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