Day 2 of the fiesta, we were up even earlier. We had reserved another balcony to watch the Bulls run. We had a perfect view right on the straight away just beyond dead mans turn. The excitement leading up to the run was so much fun. First you hear the hourly church bell, then a rocket is launched signaling the release of the bulls, then a second rocket a few seconds later as the last bull leaves the pen. They run a 4 minute mile so within 45 seconds they are rounding dead mans turn and the herd has a 600 meter straight run. At this point we could see the swell of people picking up speed and the herd working its way through them. Before we knew it they had passed us by and were headed into the arena. Watching the runners below celebrate and congratulate each other made me even more excited to run tomorrow. The rest of the day we wandered around Pamplona taking in the fiesta that runs 24 hours a day. At 6:30pm we made our way to the arena to watch the bull fights. I enjoyed the history and tradition involved but found the slow torture of the bulls kind of barbaric. I’m not against hunting or killing animals in anyway, I was even looking forward to eating one of those beasts later that night. Just the way it was done seemed odd. Alyssa was very uneasy after the second fight so we ended up skipping the last few killings and heading out. We saw the children’s bull run where a giant stuffed bull with sparklers shooting out his horns runs the course chasing kids and their parents. Then we headed over to the main park where a crowd had gathered on the lawn for the nightly fireworks. It was a perfect way to end the night and a pretty impressive display as well. The bulls that run in the morning are killed in the fights that same night and the money made from selling the meat goes to charity supporting the cities nursing homes.
The next morning was the same routine except only Alyssa headed up to the balcony and I stayed down on the street. I waited in the town square and watched as the crowd of runners grew. If your not in the square as the police clear the course and the mayor does his daily walk through you can’t run. As it gets closer to the time the anticipated and excitement grows. 300 meters down the straight away is where Alyssa was in her perch so I tried to time my run so I would be passing her as the bulls caught up to me. I was prepared and not really worried about the bulls. I was more concerned with the crowd. The bulls run in a herd and unless one breaks off they run straight. If you fall just roll up in a ball and protect your head and they jump over you. Other than that, just stay away from the horns. The crowd on the other hand panics, falls and causes a pile ups. People get crushed against the walls and trampled by other people. As the bulls approached the shoving and pushing began. I saw 2 bulls pass by as I was running before I had to focus on the pile of humans in front of me. At the same time a bull in the herd fell behind me and broke loose from the others. They call this a swelto. A lone lose bull is the worst scenario. A frenzy began and things started to get rough. I took 2 good shots in the commotion and self defense kicked in. I was determined not to hit the floor at any cost so I jumped over the pile of people falling in front of me and continued to run as the last few bulls passed. It took about 30 seconds more before the crowd started to relax. I turned to walk back down the street and could see wounded people laid out waiting on medics. As soon as I realized I was safe an emotional feeling came over me that I can’t put into words. I was on cloud 9. As I waited to meet up with Alyssa the reality of what I just went through set in. We headed straight to the Txoko Bar where the American runner all head to compare stories. We met up with Denise, our expert who congratulated me on surviving what the officials have declared the most violent run in over 10 years. Even if you don’t run I highly recommend seeing the San Fermin Festival once in your life. It’s something I will never forget and even if I don’t run again I would love to experience this fiesta again.
