The unseen force that holds team R. Bowe together is Ryan Bowe, who died suddenly at age 30, just a few weeks before the Hood To Coast race one year before. Since he had participated in the race since he was 12 years old, the course seems the right place to celebrate Ryan's too-short life. His family and friends work through their grief and participate in the race to keep his memory alive, and the film captures his image as a runner, a son, a brother, a husband, and an absent friend.