Joe Marshall is loved by the residents of the care home where he works but, as Victoria Court is about to find out, he is no ordinary odd-job man. Victoria is a highly-principled headmistress who is dealing with some challenging students: they are facing trauma from which they cannot escape, no matter how hard they run. She is determined to help them but she knows it won't be easy, especially as she too has her demons. When Joe asks if any of her students can help him with arranging a birthday party for one of the care home's oldest residents, Victoria takes a leap of faith and encourages her most difficult students to volunteer. Victoria has no idea how much Joe's empathy and inspiration will affect the lives of Frank, Anthony, Katy and Gary, or how much her own sense of self is about to change. However, being with Joe is far from straightforward: his bright light casts some very deep shadows. Set starkly in the unreconstructed culture of 1976, Running Hard doesn't pull its punches: this is a breakneck dash full of shocks and surprises - right up to the finishing line.