It was a long night of dancing for Caryn Beutel and nearly a hundred other students last Friday. Starting that night, they did not stop until 7 a.m. Saturday morning.

This was not the typical night out, as all the dancing was being done to benefit Illinois children. The eight-hour dance marathon at Campus Recreation Center East, 1102 W. Gregory Drive, was organized through the Children’s Miracle Network to benefit St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill..

The event raised an estimated $5,000, as each of the nearly 100 dancers was asked to raise at least $50.

Three certified Emergency Medical Technicians from Illini Emergency Medical Services were on hand to make sure everyone was staying safe during the eight hours of dancing.

Two families with children benefiting from the services of St. John’s also appeared at the start of the event to support the dancers. To some dancers, a chance to give back was more than enough motivation in itself.

“I have heard of other dance marathons and I always wanted to do something like this, so I signed up,” said Sarah Erxleben, sophomore in LAS. “I think it is really interesting dancing for a cause, I grew up dancing but I’ve never danced for a cause before.”

The idea to create a dance marathon started when Beutel, president of Dance Marathon Illinois and junior in LAS, learned of the success of similar events at other Big Ten schools. Starting as early as last summer, Beutel began contacting the Children’s Miracle Network to arrange for the event. It took a lot of planning to put the night together, but Beutel said she believed that the cause provided sufficient reward to get the work done.

“You’re actually helping local families, once you meet these kids it changes your entire perspective on the event and motivates you to help,” Beutel said.

The event was only eight hours long, but it provided planners with ideas for a future 24-hour event like those held at Indiana University, University of Iowa and Pennsylvania State University.

“Most of the other Big Ten schools have dances, and we thought we could jump in,” said Nicole Scime, sophomore in Media and Dance Marathon public relations co-chair. “This is supposed to be a big event that has room to grow.”