So, while lying on the beaches in San Sebastian, Rob and I agreed that we travelled all the way to Spain to run with the bulls, not run in front of them in a mad dash into the ring. So, we loaded our shizit back into the Peugot and headed back to Pamplona with the intention of running one more time, this time cutting it just a little bit closer.
We got to Pamplona around 7pm and spent a few hours crashing in the car. See this pic, that's art, sucka!
We pulled another all nighter, this time trying not to drink as much so we'd be in prime condition for the morning's run. Here's the greatest pizza I've ever had, just before we got kicked out of these seats for some reason (I still dunno why -- don't speak Spanish).
We had met these American kids in San Sebastian the night earlier and we were trying to sell them on how safe if was to run with the bulls (um, whatever). I bet Rob 5000 pesetas they wouldn't show and, well, here they are. (The 5000 pesetas has since been donated to a fund that prevents the rest of the San Sebastian photos from making it online :)
So, the run... when we ran on Saturday (the first day of the San Fermin festival), there were a lot more people at 6:30am queueing up for the run. It was still crowded on Wednesday when we ran for the second day, just not dead packed like it was previously. Anyways, here's Rob and I thinking we're all experienced and all -- we know where to start, we know how we're going to run, etc. Our plan inititally was to scope out the second hard corner and then let a few of bulls pass us while we ran alongside the rest of the pack. As the clock creeped closer to 8am we both chickened out of that option (it requires one to stand in a dead-end corner of the course in hopes that the bulls run by without noticing you), and opted for the more conservative, "let's just run slower this time" approach.
So, fast forward 5 minutes or so. The first rocket has gone off and the tourists are sprinting to the bullring like mad (exactly what we did on Saturday). At this point, Rob and I are safely around the second corner, but this time waiting patiently as the masses run by us instead of running ourselves. I'm not sure how much time passes, but the second rocket went off and we still didn't budge... it was almost like a stand off between Rob and I ("Well, I'm not going to be the first to run") until we saw the locals dashing by us and we decided it would probably be a pretty good idea to run right about now.
The rest of the run is kind of a blur. About 100 yards up (with 100 yards left to make it into the ring) there were two bulls right behind me on my left causing me to jump up onto the fence on the right. After they passed, I hopped down then jumped back up again after another few steps due to another two bulls. I waited a second before getting off the fence yet again, this time crossing the course (I was on the right side where the bulls were sliding into the fence) and ran another few yards before having to jump up on the left side of the fence for a third time.
Eight of the twelve bulls must have passed me, and in order to make it into the ring, you need to beat the last bull in. It took me another second, but I finally got off the left side of the fence and sprinted into the ring. The last part (the last 50 yards or so) is the most dangerous as the course makes one last left hand turn and then starts to bottleneck, downhill, into the bullring. When you hear of people getting gored or trampled, this is most likely the part that tripped them up.
The big difference between this time and last time was then once we made it into the ring, the crowd was cheering us since we ran in with the bulls, instead of booing us (like Saturday) for running in way before them. Also, if you've had enough at that point, there's just too many people in the ring to climb over the outer fence. The best you can do is to jump onto the wall and hope one of the people on the otherside holds you up as the next round of bulls start to parade around the ring.
Once inside the ring, I was so scared I could barely stand as my leg was shaking so much. Here's Rob and I after things settled down a bit. Rob's still talking about going back next year... I think I've had enough for now.
According to CNN, no one was killed or gored on Wednesday's run. (I heard Monday and Tuesday were pretty bad though).
Random ad at the train station... see, the bull stops chasing the guy so he can check out the beer. Clever like a little monkey!
After Pamplona we made the trek back to Madrid where we met back up with the Bates crew and where we crashed with Rob's sister Pam (she lives in Madrid) for a few days. I'm going to miss that little Peugot.
