Bulls to run in nine American cities
April 15, 2013 | 06:13 PM
An American version of the Running of the Bulls through the streets of Pamplona, Spain, has been founded in the United States by two disgruntled attorneys who left corporate life, saying they want to “grab life by the horns.”
On their website, the founders of The Great Bull Run said that the stateside version will work much the same as the Encierro of San Fermín, made famous by Ernest Hemingway: Runners will position themselves along a cordoned-off quarter-mile track and “run like hell” when 12 bulls weighing 1,000-lbs. and up are released behind them, the announcement said.
“In the name of insurance deductibles,” the announcement said, there will be professional bull handlers stationed throughout the course, there will be safety nooks to escape to outside the track, and a full medical staff will be on hand.
Organizers say they plan to use “less-aggressive bulls” that are “trained to be accustomed to large crowds and to run the course without physical provocation,” with cowboys on hand to herd any strays.
And instead of being killed post-run a la Pamplona, the bulls are to have on-site veterinary care and live “at a free-range farm where they live in open fields,” and be used again.
But the founders still say, “There’s absolutely no guarantee of safety.”
Runners and their friends will also be eligible to engage in a tomato food fight called the Tomato Royale.
The first events have been scheduled August 24 in Virginia, October 19 in Atlanta and December 7 in Houston. Events have been scheduled for 2013 in Florida, southern California, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, northern California and Chicago.
The Great Bull Run is being promoted today by Inside Hook, a website that makes recommendations on “the life you’re meant to live.”
On their website, the founders of The Great Bull Run said that the stateside version will work much the same as the Encierro of San Fermín, made famous by Ernest Hemingway: Runners will position themselves along a cordoned-off quarter-mile track and “run like hell” when 12 bulls weighing 1,000-lbs. and up are released behind them, the announcement said.
“In the name of insurance deductibles,” the announcement said, there will be professional bull handlers stationed throughout the course, there will be safety nooks to escape to outside the track, and a full medical staff will be on hand.
Organizers say they plan to use “less-aggressive bulls” that are “trained to be accustomed to large crowds and to run the course without physical provocation,” with cowboys on hand to herd any strays.
And instead of being killed post-run a la Pamplona, the bulls are to have on-site veterinary care and live “at a free-range farm where they live in open fields,” and be used again.
But the founders still say, “There’s absolutely no guarantee of safety.”
Runners and their friends will also be eligible to engage in a tomato food fight called the Tomato Royale.
The first events have been scheduled August 24 in Virginia, October 19 in Atlanta and December 7 in Houston. Events have been scheduled for 2013 in Florida, southern California, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, northern California and Chicago.
The Great Bull Run is being promoted today by Inside Hook, a website that makes recommendations on “the life you’re meant to live.”
