More Bull...

Ok, because of requests I will provide more detail of the Running of the Bulls event. To start, I was lucky enough to get the full rundown of the strategy needed to successfully get through the run and into the stadium at the end by a really cool Auzzie in Barcelona the day before I went. So I had a perfect game plan…where to start, when to move, when to run. But as with most game plans, it got completely disrupted and was useless. The part I did not know what that at some point during the morning, it was no longer acceptable to take pictures while on the street. A police officer was kind enough to inform me of this as he kicked me off the street right before the run was to begin. Apparently they had made an announcement; apparently my Spanish is not good enough to understand announcements made only in Spanish :-).

Instead of following my perfect game plan, I was now running up and down the side streets trying to find a way to sneak back in. Luckily I was able to do this, but now it was just a mad dash to make it past the checkpoint gates along the route that get closed after the bulls pass. Had all the pulls done what they were supposed to, I never would have made the stadium. Good thing ‘stubborn as a bull’ has some truth. One bull decided he was more concerned with trying to poke some of the runners instead of just running to the stadium. In the one video I posted, you can see a reply of this black bull on the big screen in the stadium. I was hoping to get myself on this video, since I was directly behind the bull at this time of the run. He even decided to give me some personal attention at one point. He turned back up the street to tell everyone behind him to back off. I had to jump up on the wooded fence that lined the street. He helped me up with a little nudge from his horn on my shoe.

But alas, I followed him all the way to the stadium and was able to squeeze in the doors just as they were being closed. There are thousands that start on the street, but only a few hundred are in the stadium. This is where they release one bull at a time to challenge the runners. They are slightly smaller bulls, and have the ends of their horns corked, but still plenty scary. Then it is just mayhem. Half the people running from the bulls, the other half running toward them. The goal is to get close enough to touch them. I touched them twice. Unfortunately, I feel like an ignorant foreigner because I didn’t find out until after that it is not correct to actually touch them with your hands. The locals all had little newspaper rolls they would touch them with. But all the outsiders would touch them with their hands.

But yes, I did survive. Which is why I waited until after I did it before I let anyone know I would actually run, and not just watch.