The Miura bulls behave themelseves

A fast run which left just one runner gored without causing a serious injury

Photography: Manuel Jorge Pérez

The Miura bulls, the most veteran bull-ranch of the Pamplona running of the bulls, are bulls which are characterized by their nobility. Today, they ran in a compact group as far as the Estafeta Street stretch and, true to form, they did not attempt to charge at the runners with their horns along the whole length of the course. The pack got separated into two distinct groups in Estafeta and, in spite of the very large number of runners crowding the whole length of the course, there was some nice running to be seen here in Estafeta Street. A dun-colored bull by the name of "Cachero" got separated from the other bulls at the Telefónica stretch, just before leading down into the entrance to the bullring, and he ran this last stretch completely alone. The whole run took just 3:02sec. One runner got a slight goring to his thigh here at the Telefónica stretch, and two others were also taken off to the Pamplona hospitals from this same stretch.

The bulls came out of the pens tucked closely behind the bell-oxen and they remained tightly grouped all the way up the slope of Santo Domingo, into City Hall Square and across the Mercaderes stretch. Although the course was heavily crowded with runners, the Miura behaved nobly and hardly made any threats to charge at the runners. As usual, there were lots of trip-ups and falls but no one suffered any serious injuries.

At the entrance to Estafeta some of the bulls squeezed around the corner close to the wall on the left side and one slipped up and remained on the ground for a few seconds squashed by the other bulls. However, soon the bulls continued on their way but now divided into two clear groups. Two black bulls and a brown one continued to run close behind the bell-oxen while the rear three bulls were now quite a few meters further back.

Here the runners had the opportunity to display their skills close in front of the horns of the bulls, although they had to push and shove among themselves to find some space in front of the horns. In spite of the crowd, the bulls behaved nobly and continued to run straight ahead at a fast pace.

Towards the end of Estafeta Street, the dun-colored bull, "Cachero" slipped up a couple of times and grazed the face of one runner with his horn. The animal continued to run head but it fell again as it entered the final stretch leading to the bullring and it was passed out by the two rear bulls, leaving it alone to bring up the rear.

The bulls entered the bullring at a very fast pace and one of the bell-oxen knocked over a runner at the entrance to the arena. The runner remained unconscious stretched out on the ground and the other bulls stepped over him as they entered done by one. The first three bulls followed the bell-oxen directly towards the pens. The next two bulls also found the pens almost immediately. Only the rear dun-colored bull showed some reluctance to enter the pens and the "dobladores" had to do some work with their capes before they finally lead the animal to the safety of the pens.