Ole! Running of the bulls begins in Spain, 2 hurt

PAMPLONA, Spain — Thousands of daredevils dashed through Pamplona's historic old quarter Wednesday for a goring-free first bull run at the San Fermin fiesta, a raucous event that ushers in Spain's summer party season.

The thrillseekers raced to keep ahead of six fighting bulls and six bell-tinkling steers tasked with trying to keep the beasts together along the 930-yard (850-meter) course from a holding pen to the bull ring in this northern city.

Several runners were knocked to the ground and some were trampled on by the animals weighing more than 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) but there were no gorings or life-threatening injuries.

An 18-year-old man from Melbourne, Australia, suffered an eye injury and a 20-year old Spaniard suffered multiple contusions, Navarra state government said on its web site. Both were hospitalized but their injuries were not considered serious. They were identified only by their initials.

The 8 a.m. daily run is the highlight of the nine-day street drinking festival, and comes after a full day and night of hard partying.

Dozens of runners, dressed in the festival's traditional white shirts and pants with red sashes, sang a chant to a statue of San Fermin at the start of the route seconds before a firecracker rocket blast signaled the release of the bulls from the pen.

Waiting on a corner was retired American pilot Peter Rostow, who then dashed about 35 yards (meters) alongside the bulls on a cobblestoned street before taking cover in a doorway, his heart pumping with adrenaline. He drank only water the day before to prepare.

"I know bulls, but they came about a hundred times faster than I thought they would," said Rostow, 58, of Austin, Texas. "I wasn't prepared for that, and the intensity of the senses was overwhelming, the smell of the bulls, the sound of them running, and the fear."

The run, broadcast live on national television, lasted 2 minutes and 45 seconds, a relatively fast sprint that saw the bulls staying together and paying little attention to the runners.

Spaniard Alfonso Gamboa didn't run but said the race was considered a good one because the bulls stayed in a tight pack.

"They went quickly and together, and because of that the people could run well," said Gamboa, 50, a Pamplona businessman. "It was pretty, and there weren't a lot of drunks."