If you build it, they will come

Combine the words “run” and the “Olympics” and they conjure up thoughts of Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie.

But the “RUN” being sculptured in three nine-metre-high letters at the London 2012 park at Stratford is art, inspired not by the fastest men on Earth but by the music of legendary rockers Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young.

Games chiefs want the artwork to become a focal point for the thousands of people who will be making their way through the park to the venues this summer and for decades afterwards.

The work, by artist Monica Bonvicini, is part of an Olympic Park scheme and is funded by the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority, and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Each letter weighs 10 tonnes and is made from steel and reflective glass to give a mirror effect in the day and a “playful glow” at night through the use of LED lighting. The word “run” points to cultural references such as Velvet Underground’s song Run Run Run, Neil Young’s Running Dry and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.