The Great Bull Run 2013. The first ever in the United States, came right here to Virginia. We figure they picked a small town to test it ut before they went on to Atlanta. Ya know, just in case 🙂 If you go to the official website, you can view the promotional video they put together with footage from the Virginia event. It’s pretty great. I watched it a few times to see if I made it in there, but it was too hard to tell, lol.
If you are wondering what in the world is a bull run, here’s how it’s described on the site-
“The Great Bull Run can be summed up in four simple words: Running. With. Real. Bulls.  This isn’t a charity 5k or a simulated bull run with people dressed in bull costumes chasing you down the street.  This is the real deal, modeled after the famous San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, but without all the time and money required for a trip to Europe!”
Crazy right?? I was back and forth about going, but I am so glad I did! What an experience. And I didn’t even run it! I met up with some people from the Richmond Photography Meetup Group and we were able to snag some media passes, which let us go back behind the gates and on the roof, which was such a great bonus! I also planned on only staying for about an hour, I think maybe I was there 3-4 and watched about 6 runs. It was pretty intense! But from what I saw, everyone came out alive, nothing bad happened, just fun and definitely some freakouts! Those things are large…
I didn’t plan on getting video, but near the end of the day I got the urge to roll a little so I only got a small taste. But I got pretty close on that last run. The photos below show you the rest. You can see I almost got trampled over – by people not bulls – even though I was behind the gate! And this is by no means “great video”, no judging please 🙂 but you get a good idea of what it was like. And I just couldn’t resist using this music, they played it before every run!
Before each run, everyone would hold up these bandanas and say what I guess you would call the official bull run pledge.
I love the cowboys!
Many people came dressed up in costume. Mostly reflecting the red and white they wear in Spain. I especially like this guys crazy headpiece. He’s looking pretty serious too.
A group of brave and excited people lined up to enter the track! They always had a few guys on horses to keep those bulls in check.
One of my favorite things when looking through my images, was seeing people’s faces when those bulls got close. They quickly when from tough to terrified!
They really didn’t look too dangerous… but I felt a little sorry for them. They sure got a workout running back and forth all day! Tired guys.
Lots of runners strapped GoPros to their bodies. You really have to love that versatile camera! I’d love to see some of that footage. I’m sure it’s either shaky and crazy or amazing shots of bulls running right at you!
Here’s a group of brave guys I know. They ran the bull run to raise money for their non-profit Sharon’s Hands. All donations went to helping stroke victims and their families. Such a great cause!
I just enjoy this guys shirt 🙂
That poor guy in the green jumping the fence cracks me up every time!
And it wasn’t just about running with the bulls. This was a pretty nice festival. A good band was playing, there was bull riding and games for kids. And of course lots of yummy food and drinks.
At one of the last runs, I was able to get a little closer to the action. Notice the Sports Illustrated camera mount. There was a ton of press hidden away there. Very cool.
After the bull run, as is tradition in Spain, they do an insane food fight called the “Tomato Royale” I left before it started, but boy I can tell you that pile of tomatoes did not smell pretty!
And of course I ran into my NBC12 coworkers reporting on the event. That’s Mike Valerio checking out the crowd.
Thanks for checking out my post! Let me know what you think. Would you run with the bulls?? I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or email me if you’d like to chat, have questions or need some photos of your own!
~Tina
