Update Following the death of an as-yet unnamed British man in the 2009 Running of the Bulls, this article is now out of date. Read the latest on this year's Man Killed in Bull Run.
Running with the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona is a very dangerous activity. It is not recommended. But my advice will not stop the hundreds who do it each year. With any luck, reading this page about Matthew Tassio's death will put a few off and will teach those who do run what to look out for.
According to a BBC article on the death of Matthew Tassio:
- "The fighting bull which gored him weighed half a tonne. It hit him in the abdomen, severed a main artery, sliced through his kidney and punctured his liver, before tossing him seven metres (23 feet) in the air."
According to an article on bullrunners.co.uk, Matthew "was woefully unprepared for the bull run, as evidenced by his walking shorts with a sweater wrapped around his waist, probably to ward off the chill night air of the evening before". His big mistake, continues the bullrunners article, was that he didn't observe "the cardinal rule of the encierro ... If you go down, stay down".
If you are planning on running with the bulls in Pamplona, first read these articles on the death of Matthew Tassio, as well as these Tips on Running with the Bulls in Pamplona.
