The Runner (2020)

Inspiring and engaging

After reading an enticing plot about the lives of the main characters, I knew I had to give this a go as a friendship-development story had to be brewing somewhere. With that being said, I found myself giving this drama a meaningful place in my heart due to its immense impact on me. I enjoyed everything from the personal insight to the characters, the plot, and sub-plots, to the never-ending life lessons that this drama provided.

The story centers around the foundation and development of The Windchasers Club, an athletics club whose main goal is to develop a team of resilient and persistent runners who can overcome challenges and face obstacles together. It also tells the lives of young adults/adults and shares their ups and downs as they move through this ambiguous world. Most of the plots offered a realistic perspective on things which I particularly enjoyed as I do not watch these kinds of dramas often. There were a vast amount of sub-plots that kept the viewer engaged. I never grasped the concept of how athletics training can build one's character, but this show proved to me that running and sports bring many nurturing concepts. As hinted earlier, this drama does bring a lot of life lessons that fitted in with the story quite well and were natural when being said. it can be a bit too much where there is a sudden stream of life advice coming at you from around the corner, but I can understand how it is there to complement the show's purpose.
Romance is not the strongest point of this series. The romance, for some, took a whole series to develop. Whilst I do believe that relationships take time to develop, it should not take a whole series to get it going. This would be my only downside to the show.

Every character in this show deserves notable praise for their character development, especially Ho Ka Yan, Nik Sir, and Franco. Each character delivers a personal hardship but gives us insight into how they overcome it, which is very empowering and inspiring to watch. I believe that the drama did well in enabling the viewer to feel connected to the characters as they deliver real-life issues and feelings that resonate with the audience.

Although there is only one song that accompanies the drama, the opening and closing theme song was very fitting for the drama.

To conclude, if you are feeling down and need something that can inspire and uplift you, or you are a casual watcher of dramas and is looking for something to watch, this is the drama that is worth investing your time in. I do not usually review HK dramas, but this is an exception as I could not miss the opportunity to write a review on this.

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