A Hurricane in the Encierro

A very fast and very clean Running of the bulls from the Puerto de San Lorenzo debut bull-ranch where the leading bull by the name of “Huracán” covered the distance at the speed of a hurricane

Photo: Miguel Fernández

 A thrilling first time debut from the Puerto de San Lorenzo bull-ranch, where one of the bulls stood out above all. A brown-colored bull by the name of “Huracán” stood out for its color as it was the only brown-colored one, but, it stood out even more because of the way it ran ahead of the rest of the pack almost from the moment it exited from the pens. This big muscular bull covered the whole course alone and separated from the others and it did honor to its name, “Huracán” by covering the whole course at a hurricane time of just 2 min. 22 sec.

First reports from the Navarra Hospital Complex indicate that today there have been no admissions of runners suffering from a goring. However, there are at least two runners being treated for bruising; one for bruising to the thorax suffered at the Telefónica stretch and another runner who was injured in Estafeta Street.  

The bulls exited the pens in Santo Domingo in a compact group. However, “Huracán” raced ahead up the slope and quickly created a big gap from the rest of the pack. This animal, true to its name, ran like a hurricane across the City Hall stretch, totally alone. Here, he knocked down some runners and continued to run ahead at a very fast pace. He knocked down another runner at Telefónica and just at the entrance to the bullring, he hooked the pants of another runner and practically dragged him into the arena, without causing any serious injury.  

This leading big brown bull covered the whole course at a surprising speed. If this bull had not slipped up at the Telefónica stretch, it would very likely have created a new speed record. However, that slip-up meant that the animal lost some precious seconds and so his total time of 2 min. 22 sec. does not mean a new record.

Today’s event of the Running of the Bulls seemed to consist of two separate runs; firstly, with “Huracán” and his solo run, when he pulled away from the rest of the pack. Then, the course was covered by the rest of the pack much further behind this big fast bull. The fact that this brown bull ran alone meant that the runners could get close in front of its horns to display some fine eye-catching running along most of the stretches of the course. Once in the bullring all the bulls were quickly led away to the pens.