One Week Ago Today We All Gathered for One Reason…

One week ago today, hundreds of people gathered at Boise State University to get their dance on for 17 full hours. It was far more than a fundraiser - it changed lives right here in the Treasure Valley. Including ours. 

Many people asked how the concept of the Dance Marathon got started. HERE is the story. BSU jumped on board and became massively successful in such a short amount of time. The reason: You. Scroll to the very bottom to watch a video of the entire event!

This was the beginning. We started off with clean clothes, no sweat and fresh faces. The 17 hours of dancing, sharing emotional stories, learning choreography for a dance that would be done every hour (and the one thing that could reenergize us at hour 16) and the start of new friendships. This night changed all of us but the reason for doing it was for the kids #FTK.

With candy, tattoos and Rhino Rush, we were sure we'd make it the distance.

This was Huggie's second year of Dance Marathon. Just one week ago, it was his final event in Boise before moving on to a new opportunity. This meant so much to him that it was the best way to close out his time in Boise. See? Look. He must be reflecting on his decision to leave and wonder what he was thinking. He's probably also questioning why he would ever dream of leaving Boise. In all reality, this was an incredible way to end his Boise chapter.

As the night wore on, the glow sticks came out. We're not sure where they came from but after about 8 hours, you're looking for a little recharge. We had officially entered sweaty zone.

Once it got dark, that's when things got real.

It was like a club. At one point, when asked to describe the Boise State DM, Huggie said, "It's what the inside of a 'good vibe' would look like." After seeing it in person, I couldn't think of a more perfect way to describe it.

Students were throwin' it down and completely showing us up in the hip hop department (please let us learn to dance like him, okay?).

Nearing the end, we'd heard from multiple families who had spent time at St. Luke's Children's Hospital and who were directly impacted by the effort and passion from each one of the participants in the dance marathon. All night, there was chanting, "FTK! FTK! FTK!"

At the end of hour 16, with emotions still running high, the anticipation of what the final total would be, the feeling of complete exhaustion but also the immense pride - everyone gathered for a moment to celebrate what was being done and what each dancer means to the kids.

Then it was time to head out to the blue turf. If it's an event at BSU, you do it BSU style. The total will be revealed but how about one more dance?

And now...the moment we'd all been waiting for...the moment all seventeen hours led up to. What would the total be?

Congratulations to everyone involved in the Boise State Dance Marathon. Thank you to everyone who watched it all on the live stream and took part in the 17 hours of awesomeness. We can NOT wait to be part of it next year. Please mark it on your calendar for February 2016 and join us. We can't wait to dance with you! Maybe we'll work on our moves up to that point. No, we probably won't. It's more fun when we're awkward on the dance floor.

Don't like to read? The good news is you can watch the entire event in video form.

See you next year!