Second Run
December 12th, 2006
I get up early and the sun has already started to come up. The street is bathed in beautiful pastels as we walk to the start of the Run. There isn’t much talk between Sean and I. I was taking the time to do some self-reflection and I didn’t want to bother him with nervous chatter. It bugs the hell out of me when other people do it. We take our positions that we had taken the previous day. I say “Hello” to all the usual suspects that were there the morning before. An American living in Paris walks up and it is his first time. He calls his buddy from Chicago on his cell phone who is also in Pamplona to get him to run. He finally shows up and he tells us he isn’t going to run – a guy from the home of the Bulls, not running in Pamplona. Kinda ironic. Or Smart. So, we take his buddy under our collective wing and explain him the ropes of running. Like our one run experience is the proper well to draw from. At the same time Jose’ walks him and tells us that the spotted bulls are going to be a problem as that they will stay to the side and try to hook runners. I have no reason to doubt Jose’. He is regarded as the finest Runner and his picture appears everywhere. What’s neat is that he is a mute so it takes some time to communicate from proper English to mute-Spanish. It’s one of those things that you hope you guessed right to what he is saying because he really knows how to Run. At ten minutes to 7 they open the gates and we start to walk forward. Our friend from London is getting really nervous so I have to keep re-assuring him that everything is going to be just fine. We get into position right where Estafda opens up, about 300 yards from the end of the run. Our friend looks over and asks us when we need to start running and I say to him, “When your nuts go to your throat, don’t run.” The expression I get back is priceless. A kinda agast, what-in-the-hell-did-I-get-myself-into look. I tell him that he will hear the first rocket and your mouth will go dry. When you hear the second rocket you get really nervous that you might have to jump up and down a few times. When you start seeing the flash bulbs going off at the end of the street you are still 30 seconds from having to start even though you want to go then. As the Bulls get closer the more people start to pass you by. You still don’t want to run. That’s the dangerus part. If you fall in that madness, you have 6 bulls behind you with 6 giant steers. I tell him, wait until you see the Bulls, then you run. If anyone falls over in front of you, run over them. I told him I kept my rolled up paper, not for the bulls, but for the people. As the bulls get closer, people start looking down the street and jogging up the street. I use the paper to tap them in the shoulder or arm to let them know I am there and if they start running they are going to run right into me and fall down. It worked really well actually. Well, the first rocket goes off and I have a giant smile on my face. Other people around didn’t seem as happy. As the second rocket goes off I am excited, my heart is pounding. I feel honored to be here amoung all these people. The San Fermines. As the bulls round the corner on the street below the flash bulbs are going off and I remain where I am. People are jogging by now and I know the bulls are getting closer. I turn around to re-assure our friend and he looks at me and says, “Fuck this” and takes off. All of a sudden there is a mad dash of people and I can hear the hoves hit the cobblestones. I look up and I see a flash of brown and white. I start jogging and then as they approach I start sprinting. I run up to the trailing bull just as it passes me and I can see right into it’s eyes. I reach out and gently touch the bull as he moves by me. I keep running and as I move down the street there is a pile up of people on the left, and then on the right. I hurdle over the mass of legs. The guy behind me isn’t as lucky and gets trpped up. As he falls he grabs my shirt and if I hadn’t swatted him away with my newspaper he would have brought me to the ground to get surely trampled on. I enter the areana to massive cheers. This has been my best run.
