cornercorner

Running of (with) the bulls?

Discuss everything from climbing Machu Picchu, expeditions in the Outback, rafting the Zambezi River, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, shark diving in the Bahamas, or anything that offers a little bit of excitement in the great outdoors.

Running of (with) the bulls?

Postby airin9 » September 17th, 2006

Anyone done it? How was the experience? Did you go to the 9 day party thing?

I'm curious how the locals react/treat the foreigners. I'm Canadian and am a bit worried about how Spanish react towards North Americans coming into their events.
airin9
Guidebook Dependent
 
Posts: 20
Joined: July 11th, 2006


This thread doesn't have any tags.

You can still check out the tag index though.

What are tags?

Postby Grant Gholson » September 17th, 2006

Well, first, they'll assume your australian/kiwi, but even the, they'll be fine. Second, make sure, if you want to run, that you're there well before the 8:00am start time. When I went to run, they shut the gates just before I arrived, and I ended up as a spectator.

But, no worries about being a foreigner--there seem to be more of us than of Spainards or Basques.
IG
Grant Gholson
Thorn Tree Refugee
 
Posts: 13
Joined: February 11th, 2006

Postby GoBackpacking » December 17th, 2006

My younger brother did it during his European tour. Here's a quote of the actual running part, and a link to his journal entry describing the experience in the context of partying Pamplona -

I began a slow jog, allowing others to pass me by until the bulls were about a hundred yards back. I then sped up until I was running as fast as the crowd would allow. Hanging to the inside of the first turn, I risked crossing the road to be on the inside of the second. (the outside of the turn can be disastrous as inertia pulls the bulls in that direction)

Hazarding a glance back, I saw the first animal. It was a steer, not the sleek fighting bulls, but still horned and big and moving. What follows is a blur but I remember a flash of black and horn, a person falling and then diving through a fence.

Literally. Running full tilt I went between the fence slats and managed to stand in time to watch the last of the steer passing the second turn. I climbed back out in time to be caught behind the gate. I met up with Phil who agreed this was a stupid, stupid thing to do. Then the third rocket sounded.

Squeezing through at the head of the pack, I booked down the straight away. Behind me, a jangling of bells and hooves let me know I was losing ground. Sadly, just as the steer were passing me, my money belt snapped and snaked its way down my leg.

In a panic, I dove to the side and watched as the steer trotted past and into the stadium, the doors closing behind them.

Travelogue entry for Running with the Bulls
RTW Trip + Advice: http://GoBackpacking.com

Life in Colombia: http://MedellinLiving.com
User avatar
GoBackpacking
Holds PhD in Packing
 
Posts: 289
Joined: March 12th, 2006
Location: Fairfax, Virginia


Return to Adventure Travel

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests




closer