Running with the Bulls

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 Get your white and red on and join in! 

Running of the Bulls - Pamplona, Spain 

 

     Okay, disclaimer here, I did not actually run with the bulls.  But, someone had to take pictures!  This all started out with a friend of mine saying he wanted to do something on his 50th birthday together.  Of course, we thought maybe an all inclusive resort with a Margarita in hand, listening to the steel drums in the background.  We soon learned differently!  What he wanted to do was much more exhilarating and dangerous.  So we started planning a trip to Pomplona, Spain where this festival was made popular in a book written several decades ago.  

     The event of Running of the Bulls is connected to Ernest Hemingway because he wrote about the San Fermin festival in Pamplona. He also writes about how graphic the running of the bulls was in his book The Sun Also Rises.  The plot involves a group of Americans traveling around France and Spain following World War I. The novel's most climactic scenes take place during Los Sanfermines in Pamplona, where the group eventually ends up.

     The goal of running with the bulls is to show some bravery by getting in front of the bull horns and running with the herd of bull brothers for a couple of moments.  I say moments, because the bulls are a bit faster than most of the runners, and they are either run over, or try to not get run over... Some of the runners carry newspapers rolled up and smack the bulls as they run next to them, others just try to touch them.  

     For those of you interested, the running with the bulls is actually the end of the festival.  For the whole week prior to this event, people are coming in from all over the world.  Some are on a pilgrimage hiking the Camino de Santiago trail and this is a stop along the way.  Bull running is only one part of a larger festival to honor San Fermín, the patron saint of Pamplona, but it is the bull run that draws thousands of annual visitors to the celebration each July.  Six bulls are released and the participants are running in front of them for as long as they can.  But, I get ahead of myself in the story of our experience.  

     We arrived in Madrid a few days before the event.  We rented a car at the airport using Enterprise car rentals.  We set up the rental in advance, were greeted by name, and escorted to the car with the engine running and the AC on already for us.  They were great!  We were off after a brief drive through the city heading northeast towards Pomplona.  The roads were very clean and easy to navigate. About 6 hours later, we were checked into our hotel and ready to explore the town of Pomplona.  We stopped along the way at some of the small towns and enjoyed some of the local coffee and wines.

     Luckily, we "settled" for a hotel away from the actual running area. We originally wanted one of those rooms with balconies that overlook the street where the bulls run, but you need to reserve these years in advance.  I say luckily, because once we walked over to the main area, we found thousands of people that had way to much to drink/smoke.  Everyone was wearing white and red, the tradition for the festive, but many were a blend of pink as they had as much wine spilled on them as probably in them!  Lot's of loud music was playing, and people were in a very jovial mood!  Maybe say loud mood? But, you get the picture.  We walked the street and our friend picked out his "safe" starting position and planned his strategy for not getting trampled.  We agreed that he needed to get there early the next morning to reserve this location.  

     The fun part of any trip is to find out where the locals go and eat.  We walked the streets away from the crowds of tourists and found a great little restaurant with tables outside.  Soon we were talking with the table next to us.  They invited us over and told us what to eat and drink.  As more and more people started arriving, we realized they were all related and we had just joined the "family".  It was a great evening.

     The next morning we headed down to the street where the bulls run.  The streets that were previously littered with broken bottles, trash, cigarettes, and more, are now spotless!  They were washed clean.  This is more to protect the bulls I think... anyway, I picked a great location on top of the fence rail and set up the go-pro and camera.  There were about maybe 15 people out this early in the morning and I was happy that I got such a nice location to film.  My friend took off to get his pre-determined spot on the route.  Soon I was joined by more and more people.  Then more and more people came, until I think there were over several hundred thousand!  There are two fences set up, so that the medical team can pull people into safety and administer aid as required to the wounded.  I am set up on the fence behind them.  

     There are some horn blasts notifying that the race is about to begin, and then the cheering and yelling starts.  The race is about a half mile long, so it does not take too long before I see the first runners.  The bulls (six of them) are running in the middle of the massive throng of runners.  We are seeing people getting pulled under the safety fence, others run over, and a lot of brave souls still on their feet.  I soon see my friend running with the pack and the bulls right in front of him.  As the bulls end up in the Arena at the end of the run, we also head off and meet our friend.  He is shaking and excited at the same time.  We find out that he was removed from his safe starting spot, and pushed back to the front doors with everyone else for the start of the run.  So when the doors opened, the bulls were right in front of him!  Not exactly what he had in mind.  But, he was one on the fortunate ones that did not get injured.  

     I found out later that the running actually takes place for several days in a row.  We were there for the first day of the running.  We later found out that someone was killed on the second day when a bull turned around and ran the opposite direction.  Pastors, the men with long sticks and are responsible for herding the bulls. They face the bulls head on trying to keep them in the right direction.  

     This was a "bucket list" item for sure, and I am glad that I got to experience it, even though I "needed" to be the photographer for the event!