Transcription:
For The Kids
The crowd stood listening to the countdown, eagerly awaiting the end. As the number $230,565.37 was displayed on cardboard signs to the hundreds of remaining dancers, cheers erupted.
It was finally over. Thirty-six hours of pain, exhaustion and anticipation came to an end as Dance Marathon participants walked out of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building listening to Queen's "We Are the Champions."
"Although I'm really tired right now, I'm so happy I went all the way through with it," said senior Staci Medlin.
The eighth annual Dance Marathon was held this weekend in the HPER. When it began at 8 p.m. Friday, almost all participants were positive they would last the whole weekend until 8 a.m. Sunday.
But as time went on, the number of dancers obviously decreased. It dropped so much that roughly a third of the dancers remained at the end. During the last hour of the Marathon familics and children from Riley's Hospital, the weekend's beneficiary, told the crowd their stories.
This was junior Stephanie Broughton's second time as a dancer. After she finished last year, Broughton knew she would dance again this year.
"When you finish, it's the best feeling in the world. It makes everything else that you went through during the hours disappear," Broughton said. "When the parents and kids come in and you see where the money goes, it's an amazing feeling that you just can't describe."
The kids who will benefit from Dance Marathon were a large motivational factor for dancers.
"When you see the look on the kids' faces and you realize you 're doing something for people it makes you feel really good," said freshman Lucas Bromley.
Similarly, many endured because they realized the cause was worth the 36 hours of exhaustion.
"Someone once told me 36 hours of no sleep is nothing compared to a life-time of disability. This is what I think of when I get the urge to quit," said sophomore Jaime Hockensmith.
Others stayed because they made a promise to themselves to finish the Marathon. This was why sophomore Tiffany Kerr stayed the whole weekend. Although she was sick late Saturday night, Kerr would not leave.
"This is an important cause and I told myself I would finish no matter what," Kerr said.
Motivation was not enough for some to keep going, the dancers needed something to stay awake. For everyone this meant staying busy.
''When you're busy you're not thinking about the time and how much you have left to go, you relax and just have fun," freshman Lyle McCollum said.
There were many activities set up to keep dancers busy, people could be seen dancing, playing football, volleyball or basketball and riding tricycles.
Bands also played a key role in keeping people going. Sophomore Deanna Westerfield said she was having a low point early Saturday morning before the band Jack Fife played.
"Once the band came in and they played songs that I knew and that I could sing along with I perked up and was OK for a while after that,” Westerfield said.
Visitors and friends played the other important part in keeping the dancers going. Junior Carol Leachman relied heavily on help from, friends to keep her from quitting the Marathon.
“Visitors were a major help,” Leachman said. “Knowing that someone was coming made me feel a lot better. It made me feel like I was cared about. And when they came and brought food and drinks I would get a second wind.”
Junior Jennifer Weeks was one of the people visiting Leachman throughout the weekend. Weeks visited Leachman every couple of hours, bringing food, drinks, changes of clothes and most important, moral support.
Leachman did make it to the end, along with hundreds of other dances. All who remained were happy they completed the Marathon and said they planned to be involved next year.
“People should do Dance Marathon at least once while they’re here at IU,”
Kerr said. “A lot of people don’t think they can do it, but they can. You just have to be unselfish.”
