One event remained.

After a long day of competition, Samantha Harris would run a 1500-meter run by herself.

It was a lonely four-lap race, but Harris wasn’t alone.

Throughout the race, volunteers were stationed around the track to offer her encouragement as she trudged on.

With just one half of a lap to go, the crowd stood on its feet and cheered her on. Her pace quickened to the speed she had when she first began running the event.

It was as if she could not feel any exhaustion from the first three and a half laps of her race.

Harris, a 15-year-old from Cumberland High School in Toledo, Ill., finished the race in 10 minutes, 10.87 seconds.

A line of volunteers, some of which had been there all day, awaited Harris’ arrival at the finish line.

The crowd erupted when it noticed her pace quickening.

“That’s what I call a home stretch!” one face in the crowd screamed.

Harris’ dash to the finish line was the defining moment in the Spring Games of the Special Olympics, which were held at O’Brien Stadium Friday.

Volunteer involvement was another symbol of the games.

“We rely solely on volunteers to run our events,” said Kimberly Abell, area director for the Special Olympics. “The majority of volunteers from this event are Eastern students. And then we have faculty, too, that comes out to run the events.”

The event drew 720 volunteers who filtered in and out to help out with the 489 athletes that competed in the games.

The athletes came from several programs in an 11-county area around Coles County.

The day began early in the morning for the participants and the volunteers.

Buses arrived at around 8:30 and the athletes filed out of them to the sound of cheers and applause from the crowd.

“It’s really all about them; it’s their time to shine,” said Jessica Wendling, a senior special education major. “You see the smile on their faces. They’re so happy to be here and have people their cheering for them.”

Wendling coordinated the volunteers and made sure there were enough at each event.

Volunteers were responsible for running the events, handling volunteer check-in, handing out lunches, giving out the medals and ribbons as well as cheering the athletes on.

“We’re here to give them more courage,” said Megan Geiss, a sophomore special education major. “It’s something special.”

While O’Brien Stadium and the lawn to the southwest of the stadium held the events, Darling Courts was turned into a kids area where those who were too young to participate in the main events could try their luck at kicking field goals or putting a hockey puck or soccer ball past a volunteer goalie for prizes.

“We’ve heard how many stickers they’ve had, how many stars they earned,” said Bev Lamoreaux, who came with the Cumberland Elementary School. Lamoreaux has been attending the spring games for eight years.

“It’s a terrific day for them,” she said. “They look forward to it all year long.”

The volunteers spared as much of their time as they could, whether it was an hour or the whole day.

“We have some here who can only come for an hour but they still want to volunteer so we put them up in the stands and they cheer on the athletes as they run down the track,” Abell said. “In all various aspects of it [the volunteers] are involved.”

The volunteers range in majors from elementary education to recreation. There are also fraternities and sororities that helped out.

“Everybody at Eastern is involved and it’s a great thing that everyone’s involved,” Wendling said. “I think it’s a great opportunity, not only for the volunteers but for the athletes.”