2 Injured in Spain's Famed Running of the Bulls

Every year in Pamplona, Spain, several thousand men and women test their bravery by running alongside six fighting bulls. The run takes place down one wide road on the fifth day of the famous and annual San Fermin festival. However, the runners who participated in the activity had reason to fear, and two athletes were taken to the hospital with injuries after the run. Thankfully, no one was gored by the bull’s sharp horns which tend to tear flesh and hurt runners. The bulls were accompanied by guiding steer on the run, and stayed together for the majority of the chase.

Yet at the end, one of the large animals broke free from the pack. This makes the bull more dangerous, because it can be disoriented when not in a group. When the bull broke loose, it caused a 59-year-old from New York to take to the hospital for a hand injury. A Spaniard participating in the run broke his nose in the event. The Spanish hospital originally said that three people were injured. The nine-day San Fermin Festival is inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and attracts thousands of foreigners from The United States, Britain, and Australia each year.

This particular running of the bulls was the fourth in a series that has been going on all week. In previous runnings at the festival, an American was gored. Two Britons were also attacked by pulls. The three-minute event is held every morning during the festival at 8 a.m. after a night of partying and drinking. Many of the runners are inhibited by alcohol when they head to the track. In the past, people have died in the Running of the Bulls. A Spaniard was gored to death in 2009, and 15 people have perished since the advent of the tradition. The bulls are normally killed by matadors in the evening during the bull fights.