Imagine not being able to sit or sleep for an entire weekend.

Imagine being part of the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.

Penn State's Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, more commonly known as Thon, has raised more than $41 million over the past 30 years for the Four Diamonds Fund, an organization aimed at conquering pediatric cancer, Michael Funk, overall chairman for Thon 2007, said.

Last year students raised a record breaking $4.2 million, he said.

"It's a great way to get involved in campus, it's for a great cause and it's just one of those things you'll always remember," Shawn Henderson (senior-electrical engineering), a moraler in Thon 2006, said.

Moralers are there to help motivate dancers, although they do not have to be there for the duration of Thon.

Funk said more than 10,000 students help Thon in some way by fundraising, dancing, working on a committee or entertaining the crowd.

"Dancing in Thon is one of the biggest honors in probably my whole life," Tommy Otterbine (senior-microbiology), a dancer in Thon 2006, said.

Every organization adopts a child each year, said Erin Grady, a recent graduate who danced in Thon this year. She said during the year, the organization communicates with
their Thon family through visits and letters, and ideally, the family will be at Thon.

Grady said her Thon child, Brandon, motivated her when she was down.

"Every time I'd get frustrated, I'd see him and know it's nothing compared to what this little boy has to go through every day," she said.

To help dancers make it through Thon, a line dance is done hourly.

There are also numerous activities, live entertainment, massages and food to help time go faster, he said.

Thon always takes place the third week in February, and this year it will be moved from Rec Hall to the Bryce Jordan Center (BJC).

"The biggest benefit is the added space in the stands," Funk said.

The BJC is able to accommodate more people than Rec Hall, he said, so supporters won't be turned away.

Funk said last year, the doors had to be closed four times because there wasn't enough room in the building to hold everyone.

"At first I was a little disappointed in the change, because Rec Hall is tradition. But, Thon gets bigger every year, so now I see it as a positive movement," Henderson said.

To use the BJC, Penn State President Graham Spanier had to make a compromise with the Big Ten and Penn State athletics to end Thon at 4 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Sunday, Funk said.

Funk added that this doesn't necessarily mean Thon will be cut back to 45 hours, as the Friday start time could be pushed up to compensate.

"Thon was definitely the highlight of anything I did in college. It was the most difficult, but definitely the most rewarding," Otterbine said.