--- title: Spelling Bee Contestants Do The Dab, Running Man Challenge description: The contestants of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee proved that they were a well-rounded bunch by showing off their dancing skills. canonical: https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-27T14:55:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:46.967Z og:title: Watch Spelling Bee Contestants Hit The Dab og:description: They're also great at doing the Running Man Challenge og:url: https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Spelling Bee Contestants Hit The Dab twitter:description: They're also great at doing the Running Man Challenge twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Proof the National Spelling Bee Was Basically a Dance-Off  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 27, 2016 2:55 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 27, 2016 2:55 PM UTC Forget [spelling words like “gesellschaft”](http://time.com/4347515/scripps-national-spelling-bee-quiz/) — the real feat of the [2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee](http://time.com/4344080/scripps-national-spelling-bee-winners-where-are-they-now/?xid=homepage) was the contestants’ skillful application of viral dance moves. The spellers used their platform on Thursday to not only show off their knowledge of the English language, but also to demonstrate that they could [hit the dab](http://time.com/4345110/rihanna-dab-prince-tribute-billboard-awards/) and complete [the running man challenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cM%5Fi2yWE4I). The dab was an obvious way to celebrate victory after spelling something correctly — and as this roundup shows, many of these kids’ dabs could put [Cam Newton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAmLInI%5FpS4) to shame. Contestants also couldn’t resist the charms of the running man challenge, with some spellers breaking out in dance both on-stage and around Washington D.C. to the dulcet tones of Ghost Town DJ’s. > [](https://twitter.com/ashleyxholcomb/status/736003409313042433) We’re all winners when this is what the National Spelling Bee looks like. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/"},"headline":"Here's Proof the National Spelling Bee Was Basically a Dance-Off","datePublished":"2016-05-27T14:55:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:46.967Z","description":"Cue up \"My Boo\" now","url":"https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4350445/national-spelling-bee-2016-dab-running-man-challenge/","name":"Here's Proof the National Spelling Bee Was Basically a Dance-Off"}}]}] ```