Dance Marathon - January 26th, 2008

Iowa State University Dance Marathon
Although this was Dance Marathon's 11th year making a difference in children's lives, it was my first year participating as a dancer. Dance Marathon is the largest philanthropic event on the ISU Campus. This great event raises money and awareness for University of Iowa Children’s Hospital through Children's Miracle Network. It is a 15 hour dance where the dancers get to mingle with the miracle families, play games with the kids and meet new people. Last year, Dance Marathon raised over $160,000, but this year we raised an astounding $190,000 for the kids!

Just arriving at the Memorial Union at 8 am.
My good friend, Rachel, who was my team captain. We were Team Cow! =-) All the teams were named after animals.

Pre-Dance Marathon pic.
Another good friend of mine, Meg. We were on Team Cow together.

Our "run in" into the Great Hall. Everyone formed a giant tunnel with everyone running. The people in yellow are the miracle children and families.

The miracle families making the run in!

Everyone is finally in the Great Hall and learning the morale dance.

One of the first miracle families to speak to us. All the families tell us their story.

Kaitlyn and I. We were co-chairs together for Homecoming in the fall.

Molly and I. She is my big sis for ASK and one of my good friends.

HENRY! Henry and I are Cyclone Aides together. He is a hoot!

Jousting. A miracle kid dominates a DM dancer. =-)

Mitch, who is Molly's little brother. He's also a Cyclone Aide with me.

I'm bustin' out the hula hoop. I hadn't done it in ages!

And that's how good I am! =-) Fell straight to the floor!

While dancing, we formed a tunnel and this little girl loved running through it. She was so adorable!

Another miracle family. All these miracle families received fundings from Dance Marathon through the University of Iowa's Children's Hospital.

Miracle family.

These boys all had to receive treatments at the Children's Hospital.

The Great Hall all decked out.

Meg and I swing dancing. So much fun!

Meg was leading.

All smiles!

Jennifer and I

Dancin' away!

Team Cow! This is Rachel and Mark. They were my Team Captains and every hour there is a different theme so all the Team Captain's dress up to the theme. Of course this hour was "team animal hour". =-)

This young man was so inspiring. He was so grateful for Dance Marathon and he made sure we knew of that.

The miracle children had a talent show during one hour. This girl tumbled.

Nick was his name and during the talent show he sung two songs. This was his first and he dedicated to his girlfriend. He sung "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait. He did a phenomenal job.

The taller girl played the flute while her little sister sung. She played Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and we had to help the little girl sing as she was being a little shy.

This young girl read us a poem about Dance Marathon and how much she loves it. Her sister stands by her side.

Nick's last song was "Mr. Mom" by Lonestar. He was too funny and dressed up for it, as you see.

I had to get a picture with him because he touched my heart so much. Comes to find out, he's a huge PBR fan and watches it every weekend.

Rachel and I dancin' away!

Rach and Meg

Mark and I. Look at our awesome cow name tags!

Mitch and I havin' a blast!

Another miracle family

The ISU Drumline came during "ISU Spirit" hour. It was awesome as I love the drumline!

I took this picture because you could see everyone of the drumline members doing their "mini marching" with their feet.

The cheer squad came. That is one of my friends, Brooke, in the middle.

I-S-U!

Kickin' it for the Kids!

Miracle family.

A graduation ceremony took place for all the miracle children who are healthy and have overcome their illness.

A fraternity, Lambda Chi, came and performed their thriller dance to the Michael Jackson song "Thriller". It was great!

Getting to the last hours of the event.

Everyone who participated in Dance Marathon wasn't allowed to sit the entire 15 hours.

Some Morale Captains.

Meg and I playing DDR!

It was my first time playing! I dominated! =-)

Rachel and Meg. One of several of Rachel's costumes.

There was a lot of dancing!

Mitch could not hula hoop either!

Power Hour! This is only half the people as we were in the middle of the Great Hall during power hour. That is the second to last hour of Dance Marathon where everyone dances for an hour straight. It was intense!

Power Hour!

During Power Hour. I was totally rockin' out!

During our last hour, all the dancers (in teal) circled around the Great Hall and then all the Dance Marathon committees and miracle families went around the circle to thank everyone.

This young man is a walking miracle! He is 18 now, but when he was 8 years old, a drunk driver ran over him and drug him by his head for 150-200 feet. When his mom arrived at the hospital, his brain was visible through his head. He said that he had 5 rocks embedded into his brain. All of his treatment and surgeries were at the U of I Children's Hospital, which is of course where all Dance Marathon's money goes to. He plans to attend ISU in the fall and become a dancer for Dance Marathon next spring.

He wrapped up the night singing "You Raise Me Up" and it was very moving.

Counting down from 10, everyone sat down for the first time in 15 hours.

I want to thank everyone who supported me and donated towards Dance Marathon. You help miracle children all across Iowa! I may be extremely sore the following day, but no pain will take away the memories I made during Dance Marathon.