I ran in it last year. I didn't arrive

in Pamplona until time to run in the one that was on July 10th and was planning on sitting that first one out and watch it to learn

some safety tips because they run it each of the eight days of the festival at 8 o'clock in the morning. I would still have time to run it

a few more times if things went well and I didn't get hurt. But a couple

of guys that I met that had also never run before talked me into running

it the first day . They also talked me into going all the way into the arena

so we could run around and taunt the one bull that they leave in there

for that purpose which meant that I had to start the course only about

100 yards from the arena. If I would have started the run at the

beginning of the course like some of the guys do, I wouldn't have

made it inside the arena since they close the gate about 20 seconds

after the last bull gets in there.

So right before they shot off the rockets at the beginning of the

run signaling that they let the bulls loose ( which I couldn't see because

it was around a couple of bends in the road), I just start jogging a

little bit, and then quicker than I expected, around the corner come

guys running faster than I had ever seen people run before. And with bulls

right behind them. There was a fence or a wall - I can't remember - that

everyone headed for and started to climb. So I did too. But my

arms weren't strong enough to pull me over so I started to drop myself

back down. A cop or security guy was yelling frantically at me to not

drop back down but I didn't listen. I found out later that was pretty

dangerous because there were still plenty of bulls and people behind

me that had to squeeze through the 12 foot gate at the same time. I wasn't

really thinking about that at the time and I also thought the gate was wider

than 12 feet.

There was one other time that I was scared and that was after we got in the arena and they let one bull stay in there chasing

after us while we were trying to hit and taunt it. It wasn't a very big bull

but was pretty fun running around it until it started charging at you. One

time when it turned and headed right at us, we all started running and

someone either ran into me or gave me a big shove to get me out of the way

and I went flying and landed on my knee real hard. I also pulled a muscle or

something pretty bad. I instinctively tried to get up right away even

though you are told not to. But my knee gave out it was hurting so bad.

On my second attempt to get up I was able to and was hobbling to the wall to

try to get over it when the bull was coming toward me with nobody else

around (or at least I didn't notice them) and I could barely walk. I sure was glad when I made it to the wall

while the bull got distracted by someone else and a couple of guys helped

me up over the wall. That was the end of my fun for the day! And it also kept me from running it the last few days unfortunately. I am 50 years old but the chance that I might be able to go back some day is incentive for me to stay in shape!

About the partying, nobody here is exaggerating. It was great. Also something nobody else has mentioned is that about one hour north there is a nice beach on the coast in the town of San Sebastian. I went up there two days to give me a nice rest. The bus trip was only about $8.00 each way. I sure hope I can go back and run one more time in the next couple of years because it was honestly the most fun I have ever had. I attached a video of hamburger wall which is a sharp turn in the course of the run where the bulls sometimes lose their footing and slam up against the wall. By the name of the wall, you can probably guess what happens sometimes!