PORTSMOUTH — Participants in the annual New Year’s Day Island Park Polar Dive usually run out as fast as they ran in, but not this year.

With air temperatures peaking into the mid-50s and the water at over 45 degrees, many swimmers tolerated the cold more so than in the past. More than a dozen, in fact, lingered in the water for several minutes after the noon start on Wednesday.

A huge pallet-filled bonfire, lit nearly 45 minutes earlier and watched over closely by members of the Portsmouth Fire Department, also helped make things more comfortable.

John Vitkevich, one of the event’s organizers, said the heavy rains before the fire made things challenging this year. He had to put a tarp over the pallets, and it took a while for them to fully engulf in flames due to the dampness. (While more rain threatened the event, it thankfully held off under gray skies.)

Afterwards, many revelers headed to Tremblay's Bar and Grill up the road for drinks and refreshments, and to bid on raffle prizes to raise money for the Island Park Preservation Society.