Photo Gallery: Dance Marathon

View an interactive photo gallery of DM 2006 at http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/pages/gallery/DMGallery.html.

The Finish Line

Photo By Lauren Pond

By Nitesh Srivastava

As the final hour approached, there was a visible building of emotion among the 600 weary Marathoners. Weakened by sweat and hunger and fatigue, but strengthened by their gained fellowship and their cause, they danced to staple hip-hop and techno beats of their generation.

Beyonce's "Check On It" finally came on, and by this point everyone knew what to do. Whether they actually did it was another matter, but most of them danced along to the first minute or so in loose unison.

More beachballs appeared above the dancers and the strobe lights became more intense as the midnight mark approached. The top fundraising individuals and groups were announced; the top group was Delta Gamma and ZBT, which raised more than $91,000 together. With some guys wearing suits in preparation for the occasion, members of the frat and sorority took to the stage. Then a special recognition went out to all the people in the crowd who had danced all four years of college - or a combined 120 hours.

"We were talking about warriors earlier this night," TnA announced. "These guys were warriors for all four years."

The music resumed - "Since You've Been Gone," "Heaven," "Like a Prayer" among other songs - while names and pictures of DM coordinators flashed on the big screen. As if it were a credit roll at the end of their favorite movie, dancers cheered louder and louder as each new pair of faces appeared on the screen. Some of the faces were found in the crowd; they were hoisted up and made into crowd-surfers.

Finally, people in trademark green t-shirts appeared on the level above the dance floor. They placed numbers, one by one, onto a giant poster with a dollar sign and six empty digits, as dancers made noise below.

The final number read: $686,377.

The crowd experienced a collective catharsis. DM committee members on the stage broke into tears and could barely articulate their thanks to the dancers as they all took turns speaking. TnA, the two suave motivators of the dancing effort, appeared visibly dumbstruck at the number on the poster. Confetti and balloons dropped onto the floor, and giant checks of more than $400,000 and $40,000 were given to representatives of DM's causes.

But when all the initial celebrations were over, there were still 12 minutes to go. It was just enough time for two more songs, with dancers taking turns hoisting fundraising trophies and the big cardboard checks over their heads.

And then there were 30 seconds left. A countdown in pixilated red numbers appeared on the screen, with every person in the room screaming out each passing second.

When the countdown hit zero, some people in the room stood exactly where they were to celebrate while others simultaneously made a beeline for the exit. What began on Friday evening was now over on Sunday morning. The Marathoners could now go home, sleep as long as they want, shower as long as they want, and rejoin normal society.

But as they left, one more song played, and many of them sang along to the lyrics, "I've had the time of my life..."