The perfect bull-ranch

Some close calls and some heavy falls in this fourth bullrunning of Sanfermin 2017 without any gorings

Photo: Javier Martínez de la Puente

 

Today has been the fourth appearance of the Fuente de Ymbro bull-ranch in Sanfermin fiestas. They stand out for their noble qualities and yet they can cause many dangerous moments, even for the most experienced runners. In today’s Running of the Bulls, they proved to be true to their name and completed the fastest Running of the Bulls of these Sanfermin fiestas so far in a time of just 2min.18sec. and they did not gore any runners, even though there were some close calls.

First reports from the Navarra Hospital Complex indicate that no runners have been admitted with injuries from a goring but there are some admissions suffering from bruising and similar injuries from falls.

The bulls came out of the pens in Santo Domingo at a fast pace and created some dangerous moments as they raced up the slope, causing many runners to trip-up and fall over one another. The bulls stayed in a compact group behind the bell-oxen for most of the course. Only on the final stages did they begin to pull ahead and widen the space between one another.

The bulls did not pay much attention to the runners and ran straight ahead without threatening to charge at the runners. They did not cause any gorings. However, there were several dangerous moments along the route and at the beginning of Estafeta one of the bulls tore the garments of some runners with its horns, without injuring the runners themselves and again at the entrance to the bullring there were several similar close calls.

In one dangerous moment in Estafeta, a runner was knocked over by a charging bull and concussed. The runner was dragged along by the oncoming bell-oxen and only thanks to some prompt help from some of the other runners was the runner saved from suffering more serious damage.

As the bulls ran the course at a very fast pace, the most characteristic element of today’s Running of the Bulls was the high number of trip-ups and falls suffered by the runners, particularly in the first stretch at Santo Domingo. However, despite the potentially dangerous falls and pile-ups the bulls entered the bullring and found the safety of the pens without causing any other important consequences for the runners.