This year we will see some special participants in the Sanfermin Running of the Bulls. Nine soldiers from the British army who belong to the Third Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment will take part in the running of the bulls in memory of their fallen comrade, Gareth Thursby, who was killed in Afghanistan. Sergeant Thursby lost his life on the 15th of September, 2012 and he leaves a wife and two children. Thanks to the social networks, we have learnt from one of his colleagues, Corporal Mathew Pritchard, about the initiative which he and some other soldiers have taken to start a campaign to collect funds in memory of the fallen soldier for the ABF The Soldiers Charity. This organization exists to help the families of soldiers who have died in action. They aim to collect a total of 23.000 euros and they have already reached the figure of 6000 euros through the web page: justgiving.com/3YorksBullRun
Sergeant Gareth Thursby was fondly known to his comrades as “The Bull” and it was thanks to this nickname that the idea arose to take part in the running of the bulls in Pamplona and to collect funds for the families of fallen soldiers at the same time. For the moment, some nine soldiers have agreed to come and they are already in training for the event. They hope to come to Pamplona on the 5th of July and to take part in the first Sanfermin running of the bulls on the 7th of July at 8.00 a.m. They have formed a group in Facebook (3yorksbullrun) and an account in twitter (@3yorksbullrun) where they are continually updating their plans for this commendable project.
