by LAURA TABOR
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

The winning time for the Beijing 2008 Olympic marathon was just over two minutes.

The marathon participants at Appalachian State University, however, will have to last almost 12 times that long.

And they will be dancing.

Dance Marathon is an annual charity event where students challenge themselves to dance for 24 hours. 

Appalachian and the Community Together, which coordinates volunteering efforts on campus and around the High Country, sponsors the marathon.

“A new team of people is working on a new theme, so it’s going to generate completely different ideas,” Camille A. Hesterberg, a sophomore global studies major and an entertainment coordinator for dance marathon, said. “We’ll still be up to the same standards as years past.”

The theme is “Back From Beijing,” in conjunction with this year’s Olympics games.

“We gear the line dance and choose theme hours based on the theme,” Rachel M. Warriner, senior elementary education major and registration coordinator for the event, said. “There will be a lot of sports themes, and an emphasis on being a champion.”

Each hour has a theme or a field trip, to keep the morale up and help the dancers get to know each other.

Included in the special hours is the awkward middle school dance with music from the 90s and a trip to tailgating at the football game.

“The hour I’m most excited about is the silent rave,” Kelly E. McRell, a junior interdisciplinary studies major and chair of the dance marathon committee, said. “You bring your own music and headphones, and everyone dances to their own music in a silent room.”

Dancers raise $10 for every hour they dance, or $240.

They participate in letter writing campaigns, bake sales and an odd jobs board in order to raise the money.

The proceeds go to two local organizations, Western Youth Network and Parent-to-Parent.

WYN has tutoring and mentoring programs that Teaching Fellows and other education majors work with, and Parent-to-Parent connects people with children who have special needs.

Sponsoring the same two charities for the past few years allows Dance Marathon to provide a steady supply of income for them, as well as make the challenge more personal.

“Last year you may have danced for Jimmy at Western Youth Network, this year, what kid are you going to dance for? Having that consistency is great,” McRell said.

The deadline to sign up to dance is tomorrow.

Students may sign up at the contact table in Plemmons Student Union or in the ACT office, on the second floor by McAlister’s Deli.

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