Kakeru is conned into joining his universities Track and Field team with eight other guys by Haiji, who believes their ragtag group can win the elite Hakone Ekiden relay marathon.
Kurahara runs into one of his high school teammates which brings up memories he doesn't want to deal with. Meanwhile, Haiji is gaining more and more supporters and coming dangerously close to holding a majority.
Despite Kakeru's dire predictions that their first track meet will crush everyone's spirits, Kansai University Track Team attends their first official meet.
The team has to come to terms with the large difference between their times and the top team's times. If they can't win, then what are they running for?
