If you're hoping to get your blood pumping this August, you may want to consider hot-footing it to Heinola, Finland for the 2007 Sauna World Championships. Known as the world's hottest event, this extreme contest -- scheduled for the 3rd and 4th -- is an exercise in willpower and self-control. Quite simply, men and women from all over the world sit in a sauna for as long as they can, while temperatures approach 110ºC -- that's 230ºF to you and me!

The rules are simple:

• Every 30 seconds, half a liter of water is thrown on the stove, which increases the heat.
• Competitors must sit with buttocks and thighs on the seat.
• Posture must be erect; elbows must stay on the knees, and arms have to be in an upright position.
• Touching skin with hands or disturbing the other competitors is forbidden.
• The last person to leave the Sauna is the World Sauna Champion.

If you want to learn what the experience is like, check out Outside's totally uncool take on the event, or this quick piece from Joshua Davis. To get a sense of what the heat can do to your mind, have a listen to the event's official theme song. It is, indeed, "Hot, hot, hot, hot, very, very, hot!"

[Via Roadjunky]

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Festivals and Events, Finland