Man Realises Running With Bulls Is A Bad Idea

Stokepedia

Sydney man, Dave Evans, 26, has come to the conclusion that running with fighting bulls is definitely a bad idea. Evans, who has been living in London and is now travelling around Europe, came to the obvious realisation about 30 seconds into Pamplona’s infamous bull run.

“I don’t know why, but it was always something that I’ve wanted to do. It was always on the bucket list. So when we were planning the summer in Europe there was no way we were going to miss Pamps. All my mates are the same. And to be honest, in the weeks, days and even the night before the bull run we were super amped, just excited, you know?

“Then on the morning we were where the bulls come and getting ready for the run, and people were taking it seriously, stretching and wearing running shoes, and that started to worry me because I was still pretty drunk. Then the crowd starts jumping up and down and chanting, and you can see people who look like they’ve done it before are  scared. By that stage I started having second thoughts but couldn’t get out. We were locked in.

“All of a sudden there’s this loud bang, where a cannon’s gone off, and that’s signalling the start of the bull run, so we start running, not too fast, but running and looking over my shoulder, but all I can see is people running towards me…

“And then they part and I see this huge bull running towards me, and it’s at that moment that I realise that this is a really, really friggen bad idea.”

Evans admits that it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to work out that running with aggressive half-tonne horned animals is not what would be considered a wise choice.

“Yeah I’ve got no business being near animals like that, I mean, the closest I’ve been to a bull is eating a Big Mac, so I don’t know why I thought I should be in the bull run. They’re massive and they’re fast and those horns look damn sharp, too. As soon as I saw the bull I ran straight to the side and tried to jump out of the way, but it was impossible, I kinda just had to stand there and hope the bull didn’t want to gore me, and thankfully it didn’t.

“But once the first one past there was another five of them! Plus all the steers, which are bigger than bulls, but they say cruisier, but there’s no way I was going to test that out. You’ve got bulls, and steers, and then the locals are just running over people and there are guys hitting you with sticks if you get too close to them, man, that’s just a really stupid idea. Running with bulls? Why?”

But while Evans is now fully aware of just what a terrible idea running with bulls is, he hasn’t ruled out doing it again.

“Yeah look, we’re here for a couple of days, and we’re going to check out the street parties and eat all the tapas, there are some concerts and fireworks here in town that we’re going to check out, and then where we’re staying, with Stoke, they’ve got a full festival going on with a bunch of bands from Australia and here in Pamplona, and they’ve got free beer, so for sure we’re going to get blind all night, which means that at some point we’ll forget that running with bulls is a really dumb, totally stupid idea and probably decide to do it again tomorrow. I mean, why not, we’re only young once”

And while there are many reason why Evans, or anybody, should not run with bulls again, or ever, still year in, year out thousands flock to Pamplona for the San Fermin festival, and without any training, and usually still intoxicated from the night before, throws themselves in front of fighting bulls for reasons nobody, not even the participants, know.

There is more to San Fermin than the bull run, like the world’s best street parties, concerts in town, and Stoke Travel’s Stoked in the Park festival within the festival. If you want to run with bulls, we’re ready to help you fulfil your stupid idea, but we’re also the choice for travellers who don’t want to make this very exciting, completely dumb decision.