The
Doctor Danger web site has detailed a danger scale for tourist, sport and cultural events and in the category of unusual events the Sanfermin running of the bulls, with 86 points, is classified as the most dangerous event. Just one point behind comes the Scottish Rolling Cheese and at four points behind lies the Ashbourne English Medieval Football event. This scale has been made to list the dangers of these pursuits and so to be better prepared for them. But it is clear that there is a direct correlation between danger and enjoyment: "The most dangerous events are also usually the most fun."
To assign the points to each event, six categories have been compiled; the element of danger, skills required, concentration, physical fitness, accessibility and the cost. The Sanfermin running of the bulls receives maximum points in Danger and Concentration (30 and 10 respectively). It almost reaches maximum points in Skill (29), Physical Fitness (8) and Cost (8). Its only low punctuation (1) is given to the category Accessibility to Danger. Even so, it is categorized above the Scottish Rolling Cheese where the participants must roll down a slope behind a rolling cheese or the English Medieval Football, both of which are pretty dangerous events. The evaluation of accessibility is only given to those who run close in front of the bull and not for the participants who take part in the running of the bulls but who remain at a distance from the bulls.
Doctor Danger also adds three important warnings: The Pamplona running of the bulls is
very unpredictable, incredibly dangerous and there is a clear danger of being injured or even being killed. Everyone takes part at their own peril! If this is the type of event you wish to take part in, bear in mind that our political friends in Brussels are trying to clamp down on these kinds of events and they may not always be accessible."
Finally, the authors of the study invite all those who like to think they can do the run to imagine that you have a 600 kilo chunk of stone but to bear in mind that it is a wild bull, which has been specially bred to be fast and precise, and which has horns that could penetrate armour. And, as they add, just imagine leaving that kind of animal beside four friends without much sense and all of them to be found in a narrow street alongside three thousand other people. The thought is hair-raising. They also point out that the local people in Pamplona are really nice and will help you all they can to bring the event to a positive end. It seems that everyone who does it wants to repeat the experience.
