Report

The first running of the bulls of the 2009 Sanfermin fiestas, with bulls from the Alcurrucén bull-ranch (Toledo) turned out to be a very fast one, taking only 2 min. 30 sec. There were no injuries from gorings and only four people were taken to the hospitals of Pamplona with bruises. In their fourth ever participation in the Sanfermin fiestas, the Alcurrucén bull-breed performed nobly and, although the course was packed with runners and there were a lots of falls and trip-ups, the only injuries seem to have been bruises.

The pack of bulls came out of the pens in Santo Domingo at a fast pace tucked closely in behind the bell-oxen as they raced up the slope. No attempts were made by the bulls to charge at the great number of runners who surrounded them all along this stretch.

At the end of Santo Domingo a black bull started to move ahead and lead the pack and some runners managed to get in close in front of the horns of this bull across they came out of Santo Domingo and ran across the City Hall square and into Mercaderes.

At the beginning of the Mercaderes stretch there were a few moments of danger when the black bulls slipped up and a couple of runners were caught trapped between them. Luckily, the runners stayed down on the ground without moving and the bulls ignored them. The pack continued to race ahead at a fast pace and there was no slipping up or sliding as they crossed Mercaderes and into the bend of Estafeta Street.

On this longest section of the course, some good close running in front of the horns could be appreciated, particularly as the pack began to stretch out somewhat, leaving space for the runners to get in front of the horns. Here, one of the bulls slipped up and knocked over a runner. This bull was now separated from the rest of the pack. Some meters ahead, another bull also caused a moment of panic when it charged one of the runners, but without using its horns. In general, the running was fast and clean all along this stretch.

The pack of bulls raced past Telefónica at a fast pace and down into the stretch leading into the bullring with some runners still finding space to show some spectacular running in front of the bulls.

The first four bulls entered the bullring still running tightly together and they were soon followed by the two remaining bulls coming up behind. With some good work from the "dobladores" with their capes, the bulls were quickly lead towards the pens without producing any further danger.

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Injuries

Four injured runners taken off to hospital after the first running of the bulls of Sanfermin 2009. No runners were gored.

The first running of the bulls of this year's Sanfermin fiestas has resulted in a total of only four injuries that required hospital treatment. None of these as a result of gorings from the horns of the bulls. The four injured have been treated by the emergency services of the Hospital de Navarra and The Virgen del Camino hospital in Pamplona.

More particularly, two of the injured were admitted to the emergency services of The Hospital de Navarra - a 31 year-old man from Madrid who suffered an injury to his arm in Estafeta Street. The second injured runner is a 21 year-old man from Castellón who suffered an injury to his back in the same stretch of Estafeta Street.

Likewise, two runners, both males, were also treated by the emergency services of The Virgen del Camino Hospital One of the runners, an American, suffered multiple grazing and a cut to his outer left ear in the Mercaderes stretch. The other man, a 28 year-old from Scotland, suffered multiple grazing in Santo Domingo. The injuries are now being accessed by the medical teams of both hospitals.

The Navarra Minister for Health, María Kutz, has highlighted the "rapidity and cleanliness" of this first running of the bulls of 2009, with the Alcurrucén bulls from the Toledo bull-ranch. In addition, she stated that overnight there were a total of 351 people given treatment in the emergency services of the two Pamplona hospitals. More precisely, 169 people were treated in The Hospital de Navarra and 182 in The Hospital Virgen del Camino. The head of the Health Department pointed out that these figures were normal for an ordinary working day but that the profile of the ailments was different and that there was a predominance of alcoholic poisoning, bruising and cuts arising from the fiestas.

Furthermore, she added tha, along the length of the course of the running of the bulls, there were now sixteen first-aid and medical attention spots - one for every 53 meters more or less. Some two hundred auxiliaries were in attendance at these spots. She also pointed out that in the early morning shift the number of medical staff on duty was reinforced to coincide with the number of staff coming off the night shift, to ensure that the runners were given the best possible attention.

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