Watch – Day Eight of the Running of the Bulls

They didn’t break their own record from last year, of two minutes and five seconds, but the Running of the Bulls on Thursday morning featuring the legendary Sevillano bulls from the Miura stockbreeder was very fast – two minutes and 20 seconds – and very exciting.

Of particular note was the action at the Telefónica section of the route, very close to the entrance to the bullring, when one of the tame bullocks tried to jump over a fighting bull, which sent the former animal flying over the latter, and crashing down onto the street. But that wasn’t all – an unfortunate runner who had also fallen was nearly crushed by the animal as it came hurtling down, and was saved no doubt with the help of the Navarran patron, San Fermín.

Seconds later, the six fighting bulls came charging into the bullring, only to find a small pile of fallen runners just past the entrance, tripping up the animals and sending them into the sand. The worst off was a chestnut-colored bull, whose horns got stuck in the sand, sending him crashing down on top of an unfortunate runner, the animal ripping off the man’s clothes and leaving him barely able to limp away from two of the animals.

The herd once again together, they made their way toward the corral, and with the clock showing two minutes and 20 seconds, the eighth and last encierro of these San Fermín fiestas was over.

The run finished with a number of bumps and bruises for the runners, but only one more serious injury, which was suffered in the ring.

The appearance of the Miura animals today was the 36th in total, and they are celebrating 50 years at Pamplona. The average weight of the animals today was 600 kilos, and they still hold the aforementioned record time for a run. Let’s hope that this afternoon in the ring the toreros can bring the fiestas to a close with a triumphal bullfight.