Spain bull run draws thrill-seekers and veterans

Spain's 9 day festival draws thousands of visitors from around the world Young daredevils from around the world flock to Pamplona during the San Fermin bull running festival to join veteran locals in a mad dash through the cobbled streets of the Spanish city ahead of a pack of six fighting bulls. The nine-day festival draws tens of thousands of visitors, including many from Britain, Australia and the United States, with its mix of concerts, round-the-clock partying and religious processions.
But the biggest draw is the daily bull run.
Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six half-tonne bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half-mile) course through the narrow streets from a holding pen to the city's bull ring, where the animals will be killed in a bullfight.
"We didn't realise how big they would be. They were massive," said Scots Ellis, a 25-year-old from London, after encountering the bulls in the second run of the annual festival on Tuesday with a group of friends.
"Oh my god, it was crazy, indescribable. I won't do it again, it was so scary, good but scary. We are on vacation, the most stupid vacation we've ever done," he added, his voice trembling.
His friend Andrew Scoates, who also took part in the bull run for the first time, agreed.
"We felt scared. It was brilliant but scary," the 25-year-old said.
All along the course the daredevils, most dressed in traditional white trousers and shirts with a red scarves tied around their necks, try to get as close as possible to the bulls which can reach speeds of up to 24 kilometres (15 miles) an hour.
The festival, which dates back to medieval times and was immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises", attracts a growing number of young foreigners - to the chagrin of some local veteran bull run participants.
"San Fermin draws crowds because it has the most important bull runs in the world. The crowds are getting bigger and bigger but the space remains very small," said Julen Madina, 58, who is from the nearby Basque town of Hernani and has 41 years experience in San Fermin bull runs.
Madina stopped taking part in the bull runs in 2010 but he decided to make a comeback this year.
"It would eat me up inside. I could not watch a bull run and not take part," he said.
Veteran runners warn that novice runners from outside of the region who come to the alcohol-fuelled festival often are not conscious of the dangers of a bull run.
"Bull runs are always dangerous, there are gorings, fractures, falls. It is a dangerous activity," said 52-year-old Pamplona resident Joaquin Subasti, who has taken part in the bull runs for 39 years.
"We are a group of friends, for us it is an art form. Things have changed a great deal. It is no longer just something for Pamplona, for those who are passionate about bull runs."
Fifteen people have been killed in the bull runs since records started in 1911.
The most recent death took place four years ago when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs.
Each year 200-300 people are injured, including several dozen who need to be hospitalised.
Most of the injuries are not caused by bull horns but by runners falling or getting knocked over or trampled by the animals.
To try to reduce the risk local authorities repeatedly warn revellers against the dangers of taking part in a bull run after drinking, and police stop people who appear to be drunk from entering the course.
"There are people without experience who try to do it well. But there are many who have been drinking, and it is a problem for the run," said Madina.
"I would recommend that they don't start here, that they go to a place that is reserved for learning," he added.
Source: AFP