Light show on Arthur's Seat part of London 2012

Thousands of runners are being asked to train for a series of five-kilometre night-time runs along Arthur’s Seat in preparation for Scotland’s official artistic contributions to the London Olympic Games – an art installation project entitled Speed of Light.

NVA, a Glasgow-based art charity, is funding the event, which will see hundreds of runners wearing specially designed suits adorned with LED lights perform a choreographed routine of walking, running, and stopping along the iconic hill. Viewed from above, the runners will create a two-hour light show on Arthur’s seat, fusing elements of sport, history and culture.

Angus Farquhar, creative director of NVA and the Speed of Light project, said: “Speed of Light dwells in the realms of visual phenomena … the sheer beauty of seeing hundreds of runners on a mountain like small dots of light within a field of moving energy.

“The beautiful exteriority of Speed of Light seen from afar, versus the sweaty reality of the runner, gives the work a tension.”

Event co-ordinators hope to bring together thousands of volunteer runners from across the UK, with the only requirement that they stay awake for 2.5 hours each night and can run approximately 10km. A special wheelchair-accessible route has been designed for potential wheelchair participants.

The work is to “investigate the physical and emotional aspects to endurance running and the extent to which the power of the mind can override physical pain”, according to the Speed of Light website.

The public are able to buy tickets to view the light installation event, and an audience of 800 per night “will generate their own light through the movement of bespoke walking staffs”.

Charlotte O’Brien, a 19-year-old University of Edinburgh student, encountered a group of twenty runners testing a prototype version when she went running last week, and told The Journal:

“I could tell it was a group of people with lights on them, but it wasn’t consistent with anything I’d ever seen. It was really surreal and almost scary. I wanted to say something to them, but I was paralysed.”

The installation will run in conjunction with the Edinburgh International Festival, and will take place over three weeks, between 9 August and 1 September 2012.

Interested runners are asked to register at http://speedoflight2012.org.uk/