The Home Stretch

By Nitesh Srivastava

With only three hours to go, the Louis Room was as active as it had ever been. Everyone was standing up with their arms in the air, singing along to "Stacy's Mom." Dressed in black or blue t-shirts, some of them with leis around their neck, few dancers showed any signs that they'd been doing this for more than 24 hours straight.

From the stage, words of encouragement came between every few songs:

"This is your last three hours. Dance like you've never danced before!"

"When you rest your heads on your pillows, you will know that we accomplished something really profound."

Spontaneous applause and cheering broke out frequently. A small beachball moved above the crowd, then trays of cookies and fruit for the weary dancers, and finally a brave crowd-surfer. As Lil' Jon and Nelly and the Black Eyed Peas began playing, the dancing began to get more intense until giant conga lines were snaking through the room.

They were almost there.