4 Hurt as Pamplona Kicks Off

No one gets gored, but there's still plenty of time
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2013 10:36 AM CDT
4 Hurt as Pamplona Kicks Off
Revelers are sprayed with water thrown from balconies during the launch of the 'Chupinazo' rocket, to celebrate the official opening of the 2013 San Fermin fiestas, Saturday, July 6, 2013 in Pamplona.   (Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Spain's annual running of the drunken thrillseekers, er, bulls, kicked off today, as thousands crowded the storied streets of Pamplona to test their mettle against the beasts. The end result was four injuries (one American, one Aussie, one Brit, and one native of Pamplona, for those keeping score at home), but mercifully zero of those were gored, reports the AP. "It's tremendous how many people there are here today," said Pamplona's mayor of crowds that were swelled because the run fell on a weekend.

For the uninitiated, on each morning of the nine-day Fiesta de San Fermin, six bulls and six steers race the streets from a holding pen to a central bull ring where matadors—and near-certain death—await. Bulls have killed 15 people since 1924. "The first feeling while you're running is just surviving," says one American participant. "I feel very fortunate that the people of Pamplona should share all this with us." (More Pamplona stories.)

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