I didn’t do anything very eventful for my 50th birthday, but I’m considering running with the bulls for my 55th (2018). Has anyone gone to Pamplona or done the run? I don’t like bullfighting, but the run is cool since the bulls seem to have the upper hand/hoof.
I have a better idea.
Why not just step onto traffic?
Or if you want to go to Spain, there is a lovely place in Andalucia where you can trailride and/or lesson in dressage. Owners daughter is a graduate of the school in Jerez and Rafael Soto is a family friend who also does clinics there.
Google Epona Equestrian Center
Don’t they slaughter the Bulls at the end?
Honestly, I won’t even consider visiting Spain due to this cruelty. Not a country I would want to support and most certainly not an activity I would ever watch/participate in. Ewww. Right up there with the dog eating festivals…
I haven’t seen too much on the running of the Bulls, (honestly because I can’t stomach watching it) but I always thought it was just as barbaric, if not more so, then bull fighting.
I could be wrong. Like I said, I can’t stand to watch it so I’m not sure.
are women permitted to run?
I climbed Mt St Helens for my 50th
Sure, go ahead and run with them. Don’t forget your helmet… oh, wait, you don’t wear one…
So for your birthday you are going to Spain to hang out with a group of drunk guys and then jump in front of irritated cattle?
Fail to see the point.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8740746]
Has anyone gone to Pamplona or done the run? I don’t like bullfighting, but the run is cool since the bulls seem to have the upper hand/hoof.[/QUOTE]
…and your head and back will have the hoof prints to prove it! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
No but I was raised on a dairy farm and have run from the neighbor’s nasty-a** big old bull.
If you do go five years from now, I wish you well. The visits to Spain sounds like a dream but only a fool would step in front of those Bulls, IMHO.
Stepping in front of the suggested semi is a lot safer - especially when one is 55, I don’t care how excellent of condition you’re in ---- I’m 69 so I can say that 
I can’t imagine those bulls would be anything other than terrified…
No. I don’t support bullfighting.
All of the bulls are running to the pens where they are contained prior to being slaughtered in the bull fighting ring.
Do not doubt that bull fighting is cruel. The bull is run into the ring and chased around a bit/toyed with until he is panting. He still has plenty of energy left though, so the Picador, mounted on horseback, runs him around the ring for a while then stabs him several times with a lance, injuring the large neck muscle with the goal of getting the bull to keep its head down. This injury, along with the blood loss, tires and hurts the bull. Sometimes, the bull catches and gores the horse to death in spite of the padding it wears.
Next come the Banderilleros. The bull is panting and much slower by this time, with blood streaming from its neck. Three banderilleros taunt the bull and get it to charge while they stab barbed and decorated arrow-like banderillas into the neck muscle. This hurts the muscle more. As the bull moves, the banderillas bounce with each step, causing more pain, blood loss, and damage, although the main damage was done by the lance. The blood is really running at this point, and the bull is clearly tired and hurting.
https://d22r54gnmuhwmk.cloudfront.net/photos/4/fn/bg/msfNbGwGyqYjqdG-800x450-noPad.jpg?1431885246
By the time the final bullfighter, the matador, enters the ring, the bull is not moving much. It has stopped running around and stands to confront the killer, charging when the bull fighter provokes him. After toying with the bull for a while, the killer stabs the bull in the chest from the front. If done skillfully, the bull dies quickly after this, but sometimes it takes a few tries.
The picadores, the banderilleros, and the matador have done this many times. On their side they have practice, weapons, human intelligence, teamwork, and an arena designed to allow them quick, safe escape. It is the first and last time for the bull. I don’t know why they call it a fight.
So no. I would not run with the bulls.
[QUOTE=hoopoe;8740790]
are women permitted to run?
I climbed Mt St Helens for my 50th[/QUOTE]
Yes. Can’t climb mountains, I get screaming headaches and nausea. I would like to jump out of a plane but have a thing with the falling portion.
[QUOTE=MsM;8740831]
So for your birthday you are going to Spain to hang out with a group of drunk guys and then jump in front of irritated cattle?
Fail to see the point.[/QUOTE]
Actually I have some relatives in the area. Is that a good enough point to go to Spain?
It wouldn’t be for me. if it were just running with bulls that are not used for bullfights I still think it would be downright dangerous (but some thrive on that and don’t mind if they get trampled/killed). I could not participate in anything related to glorifying/supporting/or being “OK” with bull fighting which equates to animal cruelty.
It sounds like what you are wanting is an adrenaline rush. Plenty of other ways to get one.
No thanks. Big animals with horns can be dangerous. Wasn’t a young guy just gored to death?
Enough reason to visit Spain. Still don’t see the point of jumping in front of cattle.
Technically, I have.
During college, I spent a year in Spain, and we went up to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. I went out and ran in the street with others for a short bit, but then ducked back behind the barriers when the bulls got close :-). So, technically yes, but no, I didn’t run “with” the bulls. If I were to do it again, I’d do it the same way – every year people get injured and I don’t see the point in getting right in the mix…I’m more of a distance runner, not a sprinter!
FWIW, my favorite festival in Spain was Las Fallas in Valencia.
No way. That’s one of those insecure male traditions that Hemingway made popular. I always cheer for the bulls. Although one heifer gored someone the other day as some spanish town had heifers running with the tourists.
I guess the bull which killed the bullfighter died? They torture them, then torture them some more, then kill them. Well sometimes karma strikes and the bullfighter gets his just desserts. Think of all the horses that are gored in the ring before the bullfighter shows up to finish the bull.
Aside from the bullfighting…
running with a small heard of bulls is an endeavor for foolish young men.
People get hurt, especially those who don’t know the custom.
(the fighting bulls are mixed in with oxen to be transferred from the holding pens to the arena for the day’s fight. According to some reports, if the herd stays together, no problems, but if they get strung out, the bulls get irritated and dangerous)
My husband has run with the bulls. His eyes were as big a saucers the rest of the day. Women can run but its against Spanish tradition. The only females you see running are tourists.
The bulls are freaking huge. Macho young men greet the herd at the gate. They tap the bull’s noses with rolled up newspapers to further enrage/frighten them. There are so many people running. You only hear about the casualties from the bulls. Way more injuries are the result of the human stampede and testosterone.
I saw a cowboy get the snot beaten out of him by a bunch of Spaniards because he tried to take a bull down by the horns. He was disrespecting the bull.
Only run if you are a fast and nimble 55 year old. And don’t try to take a bull down by the horns.
