Published in 1978 on the author's own initiative, in a very limited edition, The Runner has been a cult book, photocopied and passed from hand to hand for many years. Its pages vividly portray the essence of athletic competition, which is why it is considered one of the most admired and best-written sports books. Inspired by the author's own experience as a college athlete, it illustrates the hard work and dedication needed to become an elite athlete.

The story centers on Quenton Cassidy, a Southeastern University runner whose dream has always been running a mile in four minutes. When he is about to achieve his goal, the turmoil of the Vietnam War era reaches the university's athletics department. Wrapped in the athletes' protests, Cassidy is suspended from the team. After giving up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and almost probability his future, he isolates himself on the field, where he began training for the most important career of his life, with the help of his friend and mentor Bruce Denton, a PhD student and former Olympic gold medalist. Through storytelling, Parker insurmountably and from within reflect the intense lives of elite background runners and the hard sacrifice of working every day to be the best.