TANNER — Clouds covered the sky in Tanner Friday, but it could not damper the mood of the athletes competing in the 2012 Limestone County Special Olympics.

With smiles covering their faces, these Special Olympians ran onto the football field ready to impress the crowd gathered at Tanner High School.

One lucky Elkmont student received the games greatest honor before a single event started Friday. Nakita Marshall, competing in her fifth Limestone County Special Olympics, was awarded the Amy Alisha Mitchell Special Olympian Award. 

After receiving the award, Marshall kicked off the games by running around the stadium with the Olympic torch.

“It was exciting,” Marshall said about her torch run. “It was heavy and I was getting tired though. I’m really excited about the softball throw.”

Marshall is a veteran of the Special Olympics. The Elkmont student makes the annual trip to the state games in Troy every year and even traveled to the national games in Nebraska last summer.

Also honored before Friday’s games was Limestone County Special Olympics Coordinator Tonia Wilburn. Wilburn oversaw her final Limestone County Special Olympics Friday.

“It’s really grown since I started five years ago,” said Wilburn. “We’ve raised awareness about the Special Olympics and more people have gotten involved every year.”

More than 120 athletes throughout the Limestone County School system and the Birdie Thornton Center in Athens competed in events such as the 50-meter run, 100-meter run, 200-meter run, softball throw, shot put, standing long jump and wheelchair races.

Tanner Special Education teacher Susan Harrell said her students look forward to the games all year long.

“A lot of the students don’t understand the months of the year, so we tell them after it gets cold, it’s going to start getting warm again and that’s when it’s time,” Harrell said. “They look forward to this day all year.”

Making this special day possible was a large group of volunteers that could be found near the athletes throughout the day. Whether it was filling up another snow cone or cheering them on from the sidelines, the volunteers included more than 100 students from Limestone County schools who assisted the athletes Friday.

“I always enjoy doing this,” said Ardmore senior Sydney Randall. “This is my fourth year here and it’s gotten bigger every year. I just like to meet new people and help these kids.”

Adding to this year’s event was the Special Olympics Run, which concluded by running into the stadium Friday morning to begin the games. A group of more than 20 runners ran 72 and one-half miles. They began Thursday at 2 p.m. and ran throughout the night. The runners traveled to every Limestone County High School where a crowd greeted them, no matter how late into the night they arrived.

Despite the cloudy skies, the group of athletes competing at Tanner Friday enjoyed another special day they will always remember. While these athletes were not blessed with blazing speed or incredible strength, they have something that even some of the most gifted athletes lack: heart.

For a few hours Friday, they put that heart on display for everyone to see.