Running With The Bulls

There are many good parties in the world but there is only one Pamplona. There are many places that you can run with bulls, but there is only one Pamplona. This place combines the best of both, the best party and the best bullrunning. So in this section I am going to try and deal with the bull running. It will not be easy as bullrunning is not an easy sport or art as many people would call it. I do not claim to know it all but after 30 years of running, I have picked up a few bits of knowledge. They do say that a picture is like a thousand words, so what I intend to do is to tell you something about the run using a lot of picture. That way it will save my fingers from all this typing and leave then to what nature intended, holding a whisky glass and making women happy. If I have used pictures that the copyright is a bit dodgy then I will say sorry now, they have all been supplied on disc by a reputable guy that I met a couple of times down the pub. But as the intention is too save lives and keep people save in the run, then I am sure nobody would mind. After all it is only about 3 people that will ever bother to view this site anyway. Before we go on to explain all about the bullrun itself I will explain a little about our group.....THE PAMPLONA POSSE

The Pamplona Posse is a group of people that have been going to the fiesta for many many years. Because accommodation is impossible to find in the centre of Town for the fiesta, we arrange apartments which are only minutes away from the bullrun course. We also have a contact to get bullfight tickets and we can arrange balcony space to watch of film the bullrun. Every year we have some places available but they do go fast; to book places with our group drop us an email pamplonaposse@hotmail.com

For more information go to our home page www.bullrunning.immortals.co.uk

THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS

Is the single most characteristic event of the Fiesta of San Fermin. This is the event which has given the Fiesta world-wide fame and which appears on news broadcasts around the world during that special week in July. It is held at eight o'clock each morning from the 7th to the 14th of July inclusive. It consists largely of young men (although it admits all types) who run in front of the bulls to lead them from their pen up and into the bull-ring. It usually lasts from two to three minutes - although if there are complications due to loose bulls it can last much longer.

The length of the run is some 800 metres (about half a mile) and you don’t have to sign up anywhere to take part; you just enter into the run and choose the street where you will run and try to do as best as you can.

On the 15th there is a parody of the run made by some die-hards who refuse to face the fact that the Fiesta is all over and who run in front of the early-morning bus which comes up Santo Domingo street

The run began to some extent through necessity. In those far-off days there were no such things as trucks. But as the people enjoyed the fun of taking the risks it has been kept up so that nowadays it is a spectacle in which thousands of people take part.

This is not the place to go into details but just to give a general outline, things happen more or less like this:

With the first rays of light of the early morning the wooden fencing which lines the route is closed off. Then the night-long revellers are gradully cleared from the streets which line the route by the local police. The street-cleaners then move in to mop up the accumulated rubbish and dirt caused by the night-long revellery.

All spectators must stay behind the double-fencing along the route. Only first-aid teams can be found in the space between the double fencing. One practical reason for this is, that the runners have the space to jump over the fence should they need to. So now that the fencing has been shut in, the only way to enter is at the gateway at the Town Hall or at the gateway of the Plaza del Mercado.

The runners who gather at the bottom of Santo Domingo - the starting line - are crowded together as they sing a homily to the image of San Fermin which is placed in a niche on the wall decorated with the scarves of the peñas. The song goes like this: "A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición" ("We ask San Fermín, as our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run and give us his blessing.")

A rocket goes off at the moment the bulls are let out into the street. A second rocket goes off to let everyone know that all the bulls are now in the street

This is the moment of truth in the Bull-Running : the bulls run like the very devil. It´s impossible to race them or even keep up with them for very long (interesting information for anyone with athletic pretensions) : The way to do it is, to start off slowly when the bulls are still a good distance behind, and as they draw nearer start running like the devil, before they get too close, hang in near them for a short time, as near as you are prepared to risk your skin, and then get out of the way as cleanly as possible. Be careful not to cross the paths of other runners. Look for a gap in the fence to slip through or jump over, or a space against the wall of the street.

As well as the danger inherent in running in front of a bull (it's worth remembering that this is an animal which weights about 600 kilos - some 120 stone - and which has two big rock-hard horns which can cut through practically anything, not to mention possible bruising from just being stepped on, there is also the problem of overcrowding in the run. So you have to be careful not to get bowled over or knocked down by other runners. The crowding is particularly dense at the weekends where the number of visitors to the Fiesta more than doubles.

Each section of the run has its own particular characteristics so that many runners always choose to run the same section: In Santo Domingo the run is very fast and spectacular and risky at the corner of Mercaderes, while in Estafeta it is somewhat slower and clearer. The run into the bull-ring is exciting and colorful.

Once the bulls have gone past the run has finished for you and you feel a special satisfaction and relief that nothing has happened to you. That is, as long as a bull doesn't turn back when it gets separated from the others - something which does happen from time to time and which creates a potentially highly dangerous situation. When you hear a third rocket go off it is to let you know that all the bulls have arrived inside the ring and a fourth and final rocket is sent off when all the bulls have been safely led into their pens.

Between that first rocket and final rocket only a couple of minutes will normally have gone by - but what a couple of minutes !

Well, that's what the running of the bulls is all about. So if you have been up all night, think carefully about what is the best thing for you to do at that decisive moment - to drag your tired body off to bed, or to take the risk of running, or to find a safe place to watch the run from behind the fences.

The Run In Detail

1. The run starts at the bottom of a sloping street called Santo Domingo. This first stretch, of some 280 metres (about 293 yards) goes up as far as the Town Hall. It has always been considered the most dangerous stretch because on this initial stage the bulls burst out of their pen full of energy and are on top of the runners in a trice. To be more exact, it´s the third part of this stretch which is the really dngerous part. There is no protective fence on this part which leads into the small square in front of the Town Hall and so, there is no place you can duck into out of the way of the rampaging bulls. It´s vital to be aware of this fact so that you can calculate the exact place and distance that you plan to run. The two pictures below were taken in Santo Domingo.

Just at the starting-line there is a small nitch built into the wall which holds a small figure of San Fermin. Here, the runners who are bunched up in a disordered pack, chant a homily to the saint to entreat his protection just before the bulls are let loose from the pen.

2. The stretch widens as you move into the Ayuntamiento square and onto a short street called Mercaderes. This stretch is about 100 metres long (About a 110 yards). The bulls begin to slow down somewhat. The run is on a bend so the bulls tend to pull towards the right side of the fence brushing against the sidewalk of the street. On this stretch you have a good chance of making a quick exit through the fence as it´s the longest section of fencing along the whole route. The two photos below were taken in the Town Hall stretch of the run.

 3. At the end of Mercaderes Street the route takes a sharp right turn into a street called Estafeta. Two important things have to be kept in mind at this point: it´s very dangerous to take the turn on the wide side, that´s to say, on the left side. The bulls, carried by their own inertia, tend to pull over towards the left and they slide up against the fence and the wall on the corner. They sometimes lose their footing and anyone caught between the wall and the bull could get flattened by them or even suffer some more serious misfortune.IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU MAKE SURE TO TAKE THIS TURN ON THE RIGHT SIDE. Even the stone slabs on this corner have been chipped down to try to give the hooves of the bulls a better footing and last year they even put a non slip surface down on the corner pavement.

4. Estafeta: Estafeta Street is a long narrow street of some 450 metres. (Some 480 yards) The bulls continue to ease up their pace somewhat although their pace is still about six seconds per hundred metres ! However, the immediate danger could arise here from having a bull separated from the pack due to its having slipped and fallen on this corner...

5. Telefónica. Just in front of the Telephone Exchange this is a short stretch of about 90 metres(About a 100 yards) which opens out at the end of Estafeta Street and leads to the corral at the entrance to the bull ring. Here, a lot of runners are bunched up ready to lead the bulls towards the corral and on down into the ring. Many of them are inexperienced and are a potential hazard to each other as they run towards the narrow corral. By this stage there is a good possibility that one or more of the bulls has become separated which greatly increases the potential danger.

6.Callejón. The narrow corral leading down to the entrance to the bullring is quite tight and sometimes causes a pile-up of bodies at the entrance, which could be extremely dangerous.

7. Once through the entrance into the Bullring, there won´t be much danger as long as everyone fans out in all directions when they burst into the ring. The runners should immediately head for the sidelines to allow the waiting drovers to lead the bulls to the bullpen on the far side of the ring. Running into the centre of the ring is dangerous as you are in the path of the bulls heading towards their pens.