Staf Nurren nurtures an incredible passion for running-but unfortunately has limited talent. After losing all his races at his first track meet and failing to make his high school team, he becomes desperate to win Olympic gold medals by any means possible.

On his sixteenth birthday, Staf 's best friend, Jake, gives him a bogus ID for a birthday present; together, the two sneak into a bar to celebrate like the two men they pretend to be. As he enters the bar, Staf ignores the intense feeling of foreboding that overwhelms him, orders a beer, and confesses to Jake that he would like to be an all-star athlete without ever working for it. After a hunchbacked, toothless patron overhears the conversation, he offers the boy the chance of a lifetime. Staf thinks he has nothing to lose; as he and Jake head to the apothecary to meet the mysterious being who the stranger promises can help him, he has no idea the pact he is about to make a deal with a diabolical force will have tragic consequences.

A hero, an ultimate record holder, and history's best athlete soon discovers the life he dreamed for himself hinges on a contract signed in his own blood.