As Dance Marathon reached its halfway point Saturday morning, it became clear the dancers were starting to feel the physical pain of dancing for 15 hours straight. Where dancers would have leapt into the air before, they now bobbed back and forth with an exhausted look on their face. When the block reached its conclusion, participants didn’t scurry out, but rather trudged out as if they were going to a funeral.

Dancer Courtney Wilson said she knows exactly when DM went from simple fun to tough work.

“After breakfast, I was out of it,” the sophomore Communicatons student said from Norris hall. “It made me realize I could sit down, and that took energy.”

Clearly, something drained the will out of many NU dancers. The majority of people in the halls put their feet against the wall and shut their eyes, trying to work in a little beauty rest before it begins again.

Wilson said she won’t stop though.

“I know I can do it,” she said. “Plus, I have to do it. I kinda signed up for it.”

Alumni Kristin Mays said she had reasons to keep on dancing the day away.

“So many people out there are supporting it,” the class of 06 graduate said.

Mays, who was on DM exec board last year, said she loves the event, and it means so much to her. She said she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

Soon, Dance Relation’s banging starts, and dancers get up at a snail’s pace. A Dancer Relations worker yells out “It’s easy from here! You can do it.”

Most of the faces seem to disagree. But they slowly get up and get back into the Louis Room.