Spain’s running of the bulls kicks off with no gorings but 2 runners hospitalized

Ole! Running of the bulls begins in Spain, 2 hurt

PAMPLONA, Spain — Thousands of daredevils dashed through Pamplona’s historic old quarter Wednesday for a goring-free first bull run at the San Fermin fiesta, a raucous event that ushers in Spain’s summer party season.

An 18-year-old runner from Melbourne, Australia, suffered three fractured vertebrae and was in serious condition at a hospital, and a 20-year old Spanish man received an eye injury but was in less serious condition, Navarra state government said on its web site.

The thrillseekers raced to keep ahead of six fighting bulls and six bell-tinkling steers tasked with trying to keep the beasts together along the 930-yard (850-meter) course from a holding pen to the bull ring in this northern city.

Several runners were knocked to the ground and some were trampled on by the animals weighing more than 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms), but there were no gorings. The Navarra government statement did not say how the young Australian man was hurt while he ran. He and the injured Spaniard were identified only by their initials.

The 8 a.m. daily run is the highlight of the nine-day street drinking festival, and comes after a full day and night of hard partying.

Dozens of runners, dressed in the festival’s traditional white shirts and pants with red sashes, sang a chant to a statue of San Fermin at the start of the route seconds before a firecracker rocket blast signaled the release of the bulls from the pen.

Waiting on a corner was retired American pilot Peter Rostow, who then dashed about 35 yards (meters) alongside the bulls on a cobblestoned street before taking cover in a doorway, his heart pumping with adrenaline. He drank only water the day before to prepare.

“I know bulls, but they came about a hundred times faster than I thought they would,” said Rostow, 58, of Austin, Texas. “I wasn’t prepared for that, and the intensity of the senses was overwhelming, the smell of the bulls, the sound of them running, and the fear.”

The run, broadcast live on national television, lasted 2 minutes and 23 seconds, a relatively fast sprint that saw the bulls staying together and paying little attention to the runners.

Spaniard Alfonso Gamboa didn’t run but said the race was considered a good one because the bulls stayed in a tight pack.

“They went quickly and together, and because of that the people could run well,” said Gamboa, 50, a Pamplona businessman. “It was pretty, and there weren’t a lot of drunks.”

Rostow’s wife, Katie, watched nervously from a second-floor balcony as her husband started his run. She lost sight of him in the crowd as the runners and bulls approached, but kept her camera shutter pressed down to capture images. Relief came moments later when she spotted him standing safe in a doorway.

“Now I see that he’s alive, we can finally party,” Katie Rostow said.

Jack Harrington was bracing himself Wednesday to run the next morning after watching the first race.

“It wasn’t as dangerous as I thought,” said the fit 62-year-old dentist from Lake Tahoe, Calif. “It looks exciting, like on of those things on the check list you do in life, so I might want to check it off.”

The bulls that ran Wednesday morning were killed in the evening in the bull ring, and their meat will be served up in Pamplona’s restaurants.

After the run, people packed the bull ring to chase and taunt young calves, while others resumed partying around the town, swilling beer, sangria and wine on the streets and in jammed bars. The festival features eight bull runs in total.

Dozens are injured each year in the morning runs. Most get hurt after falling, but some are gored and trampled by the beasts. Last year’s festival saw the first fatal goring in nearly 15 years.

Associated Press writer Ciaran Giles contributed from Madrid.