For UI senior Sarah Rinehart, completing the Chicago Marathon mirrors the long battle children with cancer face: there are the ups, the downs, and the overwhelming relief once it’s all over.

“You kind of experience every emotion while doing it because it is so long. … You kind of feel like you’re on top of the world,” she said, noting that she knows a family dealing with cancer. “There’s definitely days when they feel on top of the world because things go really well at an appointment, and there’s just other days when it’s not so great.”

That’s why Rinehart and other UI Dance Marathon the Marathon officials are ecstatic that 250 runners tied to the UI organization are registered for the Oct. 11 Chicago Marathon — more than double last year’s final tally of 88.

The dozens of runners who finished the 26.2-mile course last year exceeded the group’s original goal of 15, said UI senior Colette Forcier, the group’s executive director.

Last year’s success prompted organizers to bump up their goal to 100 runners. Forcier said she was shocked when Rinehart, the chairwoman of Dance Marathon the Marathon, told her 250 people were registered for the group’s second year.

“I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s outrageous,’ ” Forcier said. “It’s really unbelievable. We never expected this many.”

But with skyrocketing numbers came the need for more resources.

“First, it was kind of scary trying to figure out all the logistics about how to train that many people and get them to the race,” Rinehart said.

Roughly 12 coaches are training the runners this year, up from the two people who organized training runs last year.

The group has also increased the number of runs per week and the amount of fundraising opportunities for runners. Additionally, organizers set up training runs in Chicago suburbs over the summer, Rinehart said.

Officials decided to drop the required fundraising amount to $750 per runner, down from the $1,000 expected last year. The decrease came after comparing their required amount to other charities’ and accounting for the spike in runners.

The Chicago Marathon also promoted the UI group from a “participating charity” to a “partner charity,” which comes with a bigger tent in the charity village at the race and other perks, Forcier said.

“You’re also just in there with the top dogs,” she said. “The other charities in there are nationwide and we’re just our university. It’s a huge accomplishment since this is only our second year doing this.”

Forcier attributed the huge increase to more publicity and recruitment, as well as encouragement from last year’s participants.

But the main inspiration across the board is the knowledge that they are running to raise money for children with cancer and their families.

“We are able to run a marathon for them,” Rinehart said. “Our Dance Marathon adviser told us, ‘You don’t want to give up fighting during the marathon because those kids can’t give up their fight against cancer.”