Miranda feels left out of everything until she meets a jogger in training for a marathon. Despite her apprehension about a sudden attack of asthma, Miranda starts to run.
A track coach wants a young Indian girl to join his team. She has trouble blending the Indian teachings that are part of her skill with the new coaching.
Thirteen-year-old Stevie dreams of winning a race at the regional running conference and mentally ties her ailing father's staying alive to her achievement.
Teenager Ronnie's life is transformed by the murder of a ten-year-old neighbor for whom she babysat, and who had helped Ronnie adjust to living at a country inn on the banks of the Santiam River in Hoodoo, Oregon.