Clark Runner

An Olympic runner stumbles upon a government conspiracy involving genetic engineering.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS:

DAN FRANKLIN (30’s), a former championship runner, is approached by THE KENYAN, his old running coach. The Kenyan wants Dan to try out for the Olympics. Dan isn’t interested. Dan feels guilty about the death of his mother. A truck hit her when they were running together. Dan’s father, JERRY, also encourages Dan to move on with his life. No one blames him for her death.

The Olympic committee, including TONY LETTS, CLARK PETERS, and GEORGE RAYMOND want The Kenyan to talk to Dan again. They are worried about a new Chinese runner, GEN XIN.

Eventually, Dan agrees to compete. He arrives in China for the qualifying competition. Dan’s approached
Dan stops racing to help him. Gen Xin dies.

A mystery surrounds his death. Jerry speaks with the executives from the Olympic committee. He wants to tell Dan the truth, but they want Jerry to stay quiet. Jerry returns home to Arizona to get a letter from Dan’s mother. As he’s driving on a curvy mountain, his truck swerves off the mountain road. He’s instantly killed.

Dan is devastated. Sylvia tries to console him. Dan believes that there’s more to the story. Sylvia agrees to help Dan find out what really happened to his father. In the process, they grow closer to each other.

They return to Arizona, but the coroner says that there’s nothing suspicious about his father’s death. The doctor admires Dan’s hair and takes samples. Later, Dan is shocked when the doctor tells him that Jerry wasn’t his biological father per the DNA test.

Dan wants answers. He finds an envelope addressed to him, but no letter. The committee finally tells Dan the truth. They tell him that he’s the product of genetic engineering. They were creating the best runner in the world. Dan feels like an experiment. He agrees not to go to the media, if they agree to help him learn more about Gen
Dan and Sylvia eventually track down Gen Xin’s birth parents. They learn that his mother had surgery and got pregnant with Gen Xi, but later the government took him away, saying he needed a special school. They give Dan a picture. Dan sees a man in the background that looks familiar.

In China, Dan and Sylvia meet with Clark Peters. They hike the Ladder of Heaven together. At the top, Clark Peters pulls a gun on Dan and Sylvia. He admits to his role in cloning Gen Xin, but alternating his DNA, as not to look like Dan.

He believes in the power of genetic engineering and the ability of man to select their own destiny. He can’t have Dan or Sylvia going to the press. Dan and Sylvia flee as Clark Peters pursues them, but Clark loses his balance and falls to his