The Ireland Hall Teeter-Totter Marathon has already raised $400 more than last year’s event.

For 72-straight hours, students take turns participating in the teeter-totter marathon, a 23-year St. Thomas tradition that raises money and awareness for the Tubman Family Alliance.

The marathon began at noon on Tuesday and will round-out 72-hours at noon Friday.

Nick Goffard, graduate student employee for Ireland Residence Hall, said donations are up from around $1,500 last year to $2,000 this year.

Tubman Family Alliance advocates for domestic violence awareness and helps re-locate victims.

Goffard said the tradition is a good way to bring the residents of Ireland Hall together while including the entire St. Thomas community.

“You don’t see very many teeter-totters anymore and many kids partaking in stuff like that, so it’s fun,” Goffard said. “We have students doing it. We have adults. We have faculty members. It’s really awesome seeing the group of people it brings in and just the fact that everyone is having fun and people are donating money, which is great, too.”

Freshmen Anne Marie Keating and Ashley Zweber said they saw the teeter-totter sitting empty and decided to be “good Samaritans” and fill the vacancy.

“I just wanted to keep up the tradition of teeter-tottering for 72 hours straight,” Keating said. “We saw that it was empty, and we were like, ‘Hey, why not? Why not keep it going?’ People signed up for it and then crossed their name out, so it’s no big deal, we just took over for them and we are continuing the tradition.”

Freshman Tyrel Bleifus teeter-tottered for three shifts and filled in for someone else’s shift while it rained.

“I think that’s what makes it really special. Like we don’t just quit if the going gets tough … it wouldn’t really be the fundraiser if there were just sporadic shifts that people quit all the time,” Bleifus said.

Goffard said the unique tradition continued this year just as stong as it always has.

“It really shows that we are a building that is really looking to help out in the best way that we can. It also shows that we’re a hall that’s open to collaborating with other people and other buildings on campus,” Goffard said. “Even though its an Ireland tradition, it’s not like we hold it only to Ireland residents to participate in … it really just shows how much we are willing to give back.”

Zach Zumbusch can be reached at zumb8499@stthomas.edu.