Once again, the successful long-distance runner Bert Buchner has been selected for the European Championship, and once again, he has taken the lead from the start, as he always does. But will he win once more?

In the stands, a reporter—once Buchner's discoverer, friend, and warning voice—watches the grueling race over twenty-five torturous laps. Memories resurface: their first encounter in the prisoner-of-war camp, Buchner's escape, their chance reunion, the first races, intense training, victories, and records—intertwined and paid for with disappointments in personal life and the loss of human integrity.

The dilemma of the competitive athlete: Buchner does not realize that he is only a king on the cinder track, that he is only cheered as long as he wins, and not a moment longer. His race for the European Championship: a symbol of his hopes and ultimately a grand race against himself.