The Peñajara go by harmlessly

The first running of the bulls of Sanfermin 2010 resulted in just two runner slightly bruised

Photography: José Antonio Pérez

The Peñajara bull-breed made their debut in the first running of the bulls of Sanfermin 2010, with a very fast clean run (2:24 m.) in which only two runners were slightly injured. Along the whole stretch of the course, several runners and bulls tripped up at times but the injuries were always slight. The pack of bulls behaved in a very noble manner and did not attempt to charge the runners at any time along the whole length of the course.

The pack was slow to come out of the pens in Santo Domingo after the first rocket went off and the gates were opened. It took almost half a minute for the animals to realize that the way was open. But as soon as the bell-oxen began to react, the bulls followed quickly behind them at a fast pace. The bulls proved to be very noble and did not charge at runners. However, many runners tripped up on this stretch due to the fast pace of the pack. Half way up the slope of this first stretch, a runner slipped up in the middle of the pavement and he was run over by some of the bulls but without suffering any serious injury.

Coming to the end of the Santo Domingo stretch, one bull moved ahead of the pack and led the others into Calle Mercaderes, where it slipped up and the bell-oxen once again took over the lead. Another bull slipped up here but, luckily, it quickly got back on its feet and ran ahead at a very fast pace along with the rest of the pack.

The pack continued to stay close together as they entered Estafeta at a very fast pace. Here some fine running could be appreciated as some runners got very close in front of the horns of the bulls. The runners clearly wanted to get close in front of the bulls and despite the crowded mass of runners, some were able to show some good running. As the pack stretched out along this street, it was easier for the runners to find gaps in front of the horns. As usual, there were plenty of trip-ups and falls, but luckily, these only caused contusions and grazing.

At the Telefónica stretch another bull fell to the ground and knocked over a runner as it did so, but the bull once again got quickly to its feet and continued to run head at a very fast pace. The runners lead the pack very well, and although there was a small pile-up at the entrance to the bullring, nothing dangerous happened as the bulls ignored it completely and simply passed by and headed straight into the arena.

The bulls quickly followed the bell-oxen into the pens and the handlers hardly needed to coax them towards the pens at all.