Photography: Manu Corera
The second running of the bulls of Sanfermin 2010 fiestas, with bulls from the Cebada Gago bull-ranch, (one of the most veteran and toughest of the bull-breeds that come to Pamplona), was this morning a dangerous and tension-filled run. The whole run took 3:30sec. The pack of bulls and bell-oxen got separated after the Estafeta stretch and there were some very dangerous moments on some of the stretches with runners being knocked down and tripping up. The moments of greatest danger were caused by a violet-colored bull by the name of Cabrero, who brought up the rear after being separated from the rest of the pack in Estafeta Street and who ran alone and disoriented over the remaining part of the course. The bull was continuously stopping and turning back threatening to charge all the time. Two runners were injured from gorings and another five were also taken away to two Pamplona hospitals.
The bulls came out of the pens at a very fast pace tucked behind the bell-oxen and the pack raced up the Santo Domingo stretch tightly held together, without paying attention to the runners around them. The runners were able to run close in front of the pack to show their skills.
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At the stretch of City Hall square – the plaza del Ayuntamiento – and in the Mercaderes stretch there were a lot of falls and some runners were run over by the pack. It was here in the Mercaderes stretch where one of the runners received a goring. The runner had fallen to the ground and on attempting to get up -something that he should not have attempted to do until all the animals had passed – a brown-colored bull caught him in the back with his horns and the runner was left in a commotion on the ground.
The pack continued to race ahead at a fast pace and in Estafeta Street the bulls began to stretch out more along the length of this stretch. Two bulls began to run head of the others accompanied by two bell-oxen. This allowed the runners to get close in in front of the horns and display some fine running.
The moments of greatest tension occurred here in Estafeta Street as several runners were knocked over and a brown-colored bull slipped on top of a fallen runner. Here the violet-colored bull got separated from the pack and it ran the rest of the course alone. In spite of the fact that this rear bull was very disoriented and continuously turning left and right, thanks to the good work of the minders with their rods, the bull was slowly coaxed towards the entrance to the bullring where it was safely lead away to the pens. The whole run had taken 3min: 30sec.