Karissa's European Adventure: San Sebastian Day three-2nd Bull Run

Hey Everyone,

We woke up early again at around 3.30am for day two of running with the bulls. I was dressed in my sangria covered whites which had a funny smell but was all part of the fun of the festival. Some of the girls however must have been up since 2am to get their hair curled and make up done because they way the where dressed looked like they were heading to the clubs. I secretly wished I looked as good but who can be bothered getting up that early to sit in a stadium just to look good in photos lol

Connie had bought thick white pants yesterday because she wanted to run on day two. We left San Sebastian a little later than the previous day so Cooper ran us through the track a little faster. There were lots more guys from our Busabout group running on this day and as we huddled around to listen to Cooper for the last time before they had to go to the main square I watched the boys and some of the girls as they hung onto every word Cooper was saying as he instructed them on how to run the race with the bulls. I was nervous for them and especially nervous for Connie as she was so tiny and I couldn't believe she was running on this day. We wished all of the runners luck and as we walked off I noticed that a majority of the group was running and we were left with only a small group of people who were watching from the stadium.

As we walked towards the bull ring arena the smell of vomit and urine was even stronger than yesterday which was disgusting lol There were just as many people still partying in the streets mainly Spanish locals now though and I remember thinking I give these Spanish people credit they sure know how to party!

Around the streets and the bull ring arena were packed and alot busier than the previous day. Lorraine and I met up with two girls from near Cronulla who I found out went to school with my friend Rachel from London to buy our tickets. We had to walk around the stadium for alot longer to find ticket booths and had to wait alot longer in the queue but eventually got our tickets. When we entered the arena they told us that our tickets were for the top rows of the bull ring and I initially was disappointed as we were so close the day before and seemed to have the nose bleed section of the stadium on this day. When we were looking for seats I realised the seats weren't as bad as I first thought and we had a birds eye like views which was pretty cool.

The proceedings were the same as yesterday and if I haven't read my previous blog about the opening run make sure you do because it explains alot more about the traditions and what happens during the bull run. On this day the bulls were alot heavier and three of the six were over 630kgs the heaviest being 640kgs. I was getting a little nervous for Connie as she along with the rest of the people running that day had no idea what the size and weight of the bulls were.

I was still as excited as I was the previous day as I waited for the firecrackers to go off to say the gates were open. As the first cracker went off we waited in anticipation until we saw the massive bulls storm out of the gates. The second cracker was released and this let the runners know that all of the bulls were out of the gate. On the screen the cameras showed the crazy locals and as Cooper said the 'psychos' who started right on the gate which was the most dangerous place on the whole track. Some of the runners started to jog a little faster now they knew that all of the bulls had been released and then we began to see people sprinting in horror as the bulls got into full speed down the hill. The bulls were alot bigger this day and seemed to get split up along the track and the run seemed alot more hectic than the day before. I saw runners getting trampled on as they slipped and fell to the floor and people getting horned as they tried to avoid being run over by the enormous bulls. It was scary and I watched almost the whole race holding onto Lorraine as we thought of our little mate Connie running in amongst these beasts. The bulls seemed to enter the arena again within minutes and they spread the thousands as they charged through into their holding pens on the opposite side of the arena.

There were hundreds more people running on this day, and alot more females. As the little bulls were released into the crowd the runners found it hard to avoid being charged at. I saw people getting launched into the air, stomped on and rammed into fences by these fierce and energetic bulls. They seemed to be alot feistier than the day before and again we watched in entertainment as the little bulls (300kgs) were let out into the arena to hurt anyone who got in their way. If you want an idea of what some of the bull runs look like in action you can go onto my facebook page as I have videos which I filmed from the arena or alternatively you can search 'running of the bulls' on you tube.

That afternoon after returning from Pamplona Connie, Lorraine and I went and walked around the 'old town' of San Sebastian as this was our last day together. We decided to have burgers from this delicious burger bar and chatted and laughed as we usually did while we ate. That day I had really bad asthma as my puffer had been impossible to open over the past few days as my perfume had leaked in my toiletries bag. It must have dried and sealed to opening shut which meant I couldn't twist it around to get my daily dose to prevent my asthma. I was finding it hard to breathe and it actually started to scare me a little bit as my chest became tight. The girls wanted me to come on a two hour boat/booze cruise with them for our last night but I felt sick as I usually do when I get bad asthma so I chose to stay at the hostel and out of the cold night air. I read my book, relaxed until I fell asleep. I woke to the girls knocking at the door but opened it to find the 3 amigos who we had made friends with from Melbourne lol They ran in and jumped all over me on my bed and were pretty drunk lol The girls followed them and were so sorry they let them in and woke me up but I didn't care. They were three very funny guys with Italian background who cracked us up for days on the trip and made us laugh for hours that night. They were bagging me out for not coming out and when I explained about my asthma one of the guys asked if he could try to get my puffer open as he claimed to be good at opening these like that. He walked into the kitchen and came back with my puffer open!So excited and thankful I inhaled the puffer which had a very strong perfume scent yuk!The boys went back to their room after we said our goodbyes and we went to sleep.