Tempted to complain about the cold and the snow? Just be glad you’re not part of one of these blisteringly hot events. [Warning: Graphic images]

Jan 21, 2014

Tempted to complain about the cold and the snow? Just be glad you’re not part of one of these blisteringly hot events. [Warning: Graphic images]

Patrick Maynard 0 Comment World Badwater Ultramarathon, India, Marathon des Sables, Moroccan Sahara, snow, Spain, weather

On a snow day like today, it can be tough to remember that there was a time when we all wished it would cool down. Here are some images of hot events around the world to jog the memory — from sitting in a box full of steam and racing in Death Valley for sport to sweltering over hot coals for spiritual wellness.

: Marathon des Sables: A competitor runs on a dune, on April 10, 2013, during the 28th edition of the “Marathon des Sables,” some 300 kilometers south of Ouarzazate. The 223,8 kms Desert Marathon is considered as one of the hardest in the world. About 1024 participants, from 45 nationalities and aged 20 to 76, have to walk during seven days in the Moroccan Sahara and carry all their equipment and food on their backs. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: Marathon des Sables: A competitor runs on a dune, on April 10, 2013, during the 28th edition of the “Marathon des Sables,” some 300 kilometers south of Ouarzazate. The 223,8 kms Desert Marathon is considered as one of the hardest in the world. About 1024 participants, from 45 nationalities and aged 20 to 76, have to walk during seven days in the Moroccan Sahara and carry all their equipment and food on their backs. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: Marathon des Sables: A competitor runs on a dune, on April 10, 2013, during the 28th edition of the “Marathon des Sables,” some 300 kilometers south of Ouarzazate. The 223,8 kms Desert Marathon is considered as one of the hardest in the world. About 1024 participants, from 45 nationalities and aged 20 to 76, have to walk during seven days in the Moroccan Sahara and carry all their equipment and food on their backs. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: Marathon des Sables: A competitor runs on a dune, on April 10, 2013, during the 28th edition of the “Marathon des Sables,” some 300 kilometers south of Ouarzazate. The 223,8 kms Desert Marathon is considered as one of the hardest in the world. About 1024 participants, from 45 nationalities and aged 20 to 76, have to walk during seven days in the Moroccan Sahara and carry all their equipment and food on their backs. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: A competitor climbs a stony steep-sided gorge in jebel Foum Al Hopaht during the third stage of the 26th edition of the “Marathon des Sables” (Sand Marathon) on April 5, 2011. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: A long file of competitors take the start of the 24th Marathon des Sables in the Sahara desert, on March 30, 2009 climbing the first dunes of Merzouga, some 300 kilometers south of Ouarzazate in Morocco. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

: Hot coals in Spain: A reveler rushes through burning embers during the night of San Juan in San Pedro Manrique, Soria province in northern Spain early on June 24, 2013. The ritual consists in starting a bonfire and for the locals to step barefoot on hot coals without burning the soles of their feet, and most times with someone on their back. ( CESAR MANS | AFP/Getty Images )

: Sauna competition: People cram into a sauna during the European Sauna Marathon in Otepaa on February 10, 2013. More than 600 participants took part in the event by visiting 20 saunas with a total distance of over 100 km (62 miles). (Reuters file photo by Ints Kalnins)

: Sauna competition: A young man lays in the snow as he takes part in the European Sauna Marathon in Otepaeae, southern Estonia, on February 10, 2013. Around 600 participants in 150 teams compete in the event to find out which team takes the shortest time to use 22 saunas and to jump into nine ice holes. (RAIGO PAJULA/AFP/Getty Images)

: Sauna competition: Participants relax after a sauna bath during the European Sauna Marathon in Otepaa on February 10, 2013. More than 600 participants took part in the event by visiting 20 saunas with a total distance of over 62 miles. Picture taken February 10, 2013. (REUTERS/Ints Kalnin)

: Sauna competition: A man walks to the sauna during the European Sauna Marathon in Otepaa on February 10, 2013. More than 600 participants took part in the event by visiting 20 saunas with a total distance of over 62 miles. Picture taken February 10, 2013. (REUTERS/Ints Kalnins)

: Hot coals in India: Shi’ite Muslims prepare hot coals before others walk on it during a ceremony to mark the religious ritual of Arbain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on December 24, 2013. Shi’ite Muslims commemorate Arbain, to mark the end of a 40-day period of mourning for the Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, who died in AD 680. (REUTERS/Amit Dave)

: Hot coals in India: Shi’ite Muslims take part in a ceremony to mark the religious ritual of Arbain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on December 24, 2013. Shi’ite Muslims commemorate Arbain, to mark the end of a 40-day period of mourning for the Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, who died in AD 680. (REUTERS/Amit Dave)

: Hot coals in India: Shi’ite Muslims take part in a ceremony to mark the religious ritual of Arbain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on December 24, 2013. Shi’ite Muslims commemorate Arbain, to mark the end of a 40-day period of mourning for the Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, who died in AD 680. (REUTERS/Amit Dave)

: Badwater: A scene from the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley National Park, California in this file photo taken July 15, 2013. The Badwater Ultramarathon normally takes place in July. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

: Badwater: A scene from the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley National Park, California in this file photo taken July 15, 2013. The Badwater Ultramarathon normally takes place in July. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

: Keith Straw, 58, competes during the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley National Park, California on July 15, 2013. The 135-mile race, which bills itself as the world’s toughest foot race, goes from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, California in temperatures which can reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

: Shannon Farar-Griefer of Hidden Hills, Calif., competes in the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley National Park in this file photo taken July 15, 2013. The National Park Service is temporarily discontinuing issuance of running and bicycling event permits in Death Valley National Park until safety evaluations have been completed, according to the park website. The new policy could affect the running of the annual Badwater Ultramarathon which normally takes place in July. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

: Valmir Nunes, 43, won the Kiehl’s Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile run that starts in Death Valley. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

: The salt flats of Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley, pictured on November 19, 2006. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America. Two to four thousand-years ago the basin was the site of a 30-foot lake that later evaporated, leaving a one to five-foot layer of salt in its wake. The largest national park in the US, comprises more than 3.3 million acres of desert wilderness. (AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS)

: Vegetarian Festival: Just in case what one Reuters staffer called “the unbearable heat of southern Thailand” isn’t enough to make this festival memorable, there is face-piercing as well. Here, a devotee of the Chinese Kathu shrine with his face pierced takes part in a procession during the annual vegetarian festival in central Phuket October 22, 2012. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums, and strict vegetarianism, celebrates the local Chinese community’s belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. Participants in the piercings are believed to be in a trance that makes them impervious to pain. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj )

: Vegetarian Festival: Devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine take part in a street procession marking the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern town of Phuket on October 21, 2012. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community. Participants in the piercing rituals are believed to be in a trance that makes them impervious to pain. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL | AFP/Getty Images)

: Vegetarian Festival: Devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine carry a statue through exploding firecrackers during the annual vegetarian festival procession through central Phuket October 21, 2012. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums, and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community’s belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. Participants in the piercing rituals are believed to be in a trance that makes them impervious to pain. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj)

: Vegetarian Festival: A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow Shrine has swords inserted through his cheeks before taking part in a street procession during the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern Thai town of Phuket on October 10, 2013. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community. (CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images)

Related snow coverage:

Winter storm makes its way to the Northeast

Four to 10 inches of snow possible in Tuesday’s snowstorm

Maryland weather photos of 2014

Related archive links:

Interview with Badwater participant Mosi Smith

Critics say a religious event involving self-mutilation is being turned into a dangerous freak show to draw tourists.

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