Butted against the fencing

The Fuente Ymbro leave one gored runner after a running of the bulls where one bull was loose

Photography: Jasper Wolf

The Fuente Ymbro bulls were the protagonists of the third Bullrunning of Sanfermin 2010, in a tremendously dangerous and dramatic run. One of the bulls got loose from the rest of the pack early on, at the end of the Santo Domingo stretch. From then on, this bull began to turn from side to side and from front to back as it made its own slow progress along the course. It became more and more cut off from the rest of the pack as it moved slowly forward. It was continually threatening to charge at the runners who were constantly trying to coax the animal forward along the course. The bull seemed to be tired and it slipped up several times. At Telefónica the bull made a sudden serious charge against the fencing on the left side and there were several moments of tension before the runners managed to distract the bull and get it back on course towards the bullring. There were further moments of danger on this final stretch into the bullring as the bull literally swept aside all the runners gathered along the fencing on the right side. The bull continued to turn left and right all the way into the bullring. Finally, only one runner suffered a goring in this morning's running of the bulls and two others were taken off to hospital suffering from bruising.

The pack came out of the pens in Santo Domingo at a very fast pace and the bell-oxen managed to keep the animals in a compact group until they were about to enter the Mercaderes stretch. One black bull was already showing signs of falling behind the pack but, for the moment, it was only a few meters behind the others.

The bulls continued at a fast pace and in Mercaderes a runner was knocked over by one of the bulls as all the pack entered Estafeta, without slipping up at the entrance corner that leads into Estafeta Street.

In this longest stretch of the whole course, the pack began to loosen up and stretch out. There were a lot of runners in Estafeta today and this made it more difficult fort them to find a gap in front of the bulls. However, despite this, it was possible to see some exciting and spectacular running along this stretch. At the bottom of this stretch another runner was knocked over by a bull and there were lots of trip-ups and falls all along the stretch. However, the real danger was now coming from the black rear bull who was now completely cut off from the rest of the pack and, all along the length of Estafeta, it was turning back and running from side to side, threatening to charge at the runners all the way to the bullring until it was finally lead away to the safety of the pens.

The animal was alone and disorientated and surrounded by a large number of runners. This caused the bull to continually turn left and right and it slipped up several times along the stretch. It was threatening to charge at the runners all the time as it showed itself to be nervous and frightened. Suddenly, it made a charge to the left side of the fencing at Espoz y Mina. Then when it entered the final stretch leading down into the bullring, it charged along the right side of the fencing. Thanks to the good work of some of the runners, the bull was finally coaxed into the bullring, where a packed crowd saw how the " dobladores " – the minders with their capes – managed to quickly lead the bull towards the safety of the pens. The whole run had taken an anxious-filled 6:23sec.