THON

The bye week for Penn State football didn’t mean Happy Valley was any less energetic. THON hosted its 16th annual 5k on Sunday and With about 4,000 runners, plenty of Four Diamonds Families, and countless THON captains and committee members, the streets around Beaver Stadium were bustling.

Penn State’s THON will host the 16th annual THON 5k this Sunday, Oct. 16, on the University Park campus.

THON’s executive committee announced Friday before the start of Penn State’s Homecoming Parade that the theme for THON 2017 is Igniting Hope Within.

THON is a grueling 46-hour marathon for the 700+ dancers who spend almost two days on their feet. One man is rivaling this challenge, and took it upon himself to drop everything to travel on foot all the way from Bethesda, Md., to State College — and he’s doing it entirely for the kids.

THON released a blog post Thursday outlining changes to this year’s canning process, including a timeline for alternative transportation options. Although canning will be phased out by 2019, the organization says it will increase efforts to ensure the safety of their participants until then.