"After shoplifting some bread one chilly night, former high school track-and-field star kakeru Kurahara runs through the city streets. Though he has grown disillusioned with the sport, he feels as if he could keep running forever. However, his reverie is broken by a mysterious boy on a bike: Haiji Kiyose, a fellow runner who also happens to attend Kakeru's univeristy. impressed by Kakeru's agility, Kiyose persuades Kakeru to move into Chikusei-so, a run-down dormitory where he lives with eight other boys, including identitical twins Jota and Joji, honor student Shindo, detail-oriented Yuki, trivia junkie King, Tanzanian international student Musa, nicotine-loving Nico, and manga otaku Prince. It's only when Kakeru is all settled in that Kiyose reveals his grand plan: to assemble a ten-man team of runners to compete in the Kahone Ekiden, a legendary college marathon relay race. Despite their reservations, over the course of ten months, this ragtag team will put aside their differences to pursue an elusive dream, and gain much more than they ever expected."--from dust jacket.