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The B of the Bang
A few months ago I ran round 'The B of the Bang', an enormous spikey-looking piece of modern sculpture just outside Manchester city centre. I was staying at a hotel in the city centre and wanted to go for a run but didn't have a clue in which direction to head. I started off running along the canals, assuming that they would be in as good a nick as Birminghams canal network. Forget it! Just don't even think about running along Manchester's canal towpaths. They stop- they re-appear- they disappear again.They take you to some dank places, slippery, rubbish-strewn, festering tunnels where the rats are waiting- and watching- in silence.
No. Don't go there. It ain't nice.
So I headed back to the hotel and asked a receptionist how to get to this crazy new scuplture they call 'The B of the Bang'. Off I set. After only a couple of miles I could see it in the distance. It was only as I got closer that I appreciated how massive it is.
Stunning.
Beautiful.
Spikey.
Unfortunately it was surrounded by railings because they hadn't quite finished the surrounding 'plaza'. I could feel a sort of energy radiating from this fabulous explosion of metal- and I needed some of that energy. Only three months to go before the London Marathon and I really believed the 'B of the Bang' could help me in a sort of spiritual way.
I spotted a small gap in the railings and just about squeezed through. I ran right underneath the spikes and they bore down on me like mutant javelins. I paid homage to the 'B' by running round it three times.
Did it help? Don't even doubt it!
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