That time I ran with BULLS!

Oh yes my friends, you read that correctly. This past weekend some of my family and I had some excitement of a lifetime! It all started last year when we saw this Facebook advertisement pop up on our feeds. There was a an event sweeping the nation called The Great Bull Run. I kind of laughed it off and thought anyone who did such a thing MUST be crazy. But then my dad piped up claiming to be brave enough to run with these bulls and challenged us all to not be chicken and run along with him. Well, if you’ve been around this here blog long enough, you know that one thing I LOVE is a challenge or dare. So right then and there it was settled, I HAD to run! According to my logic all I needed to do was out run the old man and I’d be set, ha!

So here’s how it all went down. When we arrived at the stadium we were so crazy and cocky. I think it was more let’s not think about the bulls we’re about to be face to face with kind of thing. Then all of that changed as we checked in for the event and realized that our time was not 1:30, but 1:00….it was 12:59. Yeah buddy, we had to high tail it to the entrance, grab our bandanas and wait for the bulls. (I cannot even believe I just wrote that..wait for the bulls?!) Some people took the “avoid wearing loose clothing” suggestion a little bit too far, ha! And then my friends, it happened. A hoard of people began running as they announced the bulls had been released. We were at the front of the pack so it was unclear when the bulls were coming close, that is until the masses spread like Moses did to the Red Sea. They were charging and my heart almost leapt out of my chest. Instincts and adrenaline kicked in as I did the only logical thing. RUN!!! The first wave of bulls ran by in the blink of an eye. By that point I was pumped and ready for more! Give me those bulls, I want to grab one! I had lost my mind y’all, but it was SO fun!

My dad wore a Go Pro camera strapped to his chest which filmed his point of view and in that he caught him running with and touching bulls and two other crazy things! First off, my main squeeze Sam, was able to touch TWO bulls in the first wave! Isn’t he awesome…and crazy?! There was a man that bit the dust right in front of the bulls and we all screamed for him to GET UP or ROLL AWAY! Thankfully he wasn’t trampled and only left with some scrapes and bruises. But these things happened so fast I didn’t see how he went down, that is until my dads camera caught it on video! Apparently it’s every man for himself out there, because that dude in the black jacket pushed him down. Dude with the crazy facials, you’ve been caught!

After the races our hearts were pumping and we were raring to go again, but it was time for the Tomato Royale. What’s that you ask?! Oh just a tomato fight with hundreds of strangers, most of which who are still riding high on adrenaline from their recent brush with death!

Of course we had to take a group photo, I mean you’ve GOT to document this insane family bonding time. The guys thought they were hot stuff. (key word: thought) It was just going to be us against hundreds of people and a HUGE pile of tomatoes. Let me just make something clear; it’s easy to try and imagine what YOU think a huge pile of tomatoes are, but rest assured, it’s not going to be as big as what they ACTUALLY were! That pile never stood a chance against the pack excited, energetic, and spirited people. So of which drank their cares away after the bull run and were beyond drunk for the fight. Like Kevin… Who is Kevin? Oh well he was just the stranger behind me, determined to become my best friend. With his slurred speech, lack inhibitions, and inability to count backwards, he made for a fun pre-fight wait. Though I will tell you, his drunken screaming of obscenities insured that I would peg him first with a tomato. You’re Welcome Kevin, you’re welcome.

It was seriously one of the most intense things I’ve ever done. We ran as this enormous mob trying to be the first to our weapons, almost as if we were in the Hunger Games ourselves. Then chaos ensued as people began loping tomatoes across the pack trying to hit someone, something. But let it be known, the fresh tomatoes I showed you above are no fun to be smacked upside the head with. Those suckers are still hard and pack a pretty mean punch. So while you were trying to toss tomatoes out your feet sank into the slushy juice being created by the weight of everyone. In an effort to miss the rock hard tomatoes we ducked down in the crowd, but all of the pushing and shoving from the group slipping and fighting with tomatoes caused me to fall. Back first sinking into the tomatoey abyss as I prayed someone one didn’t step on me. Thankfully my sister, husband, and like five strangers helped me up. We were laugh SO hard we couldn’t breathe. But we were cold, wet, and couldn’t see out of our goggles, and completely covered in tomato. It was time to leave, ha!

I will say that one of my dreams came true that day. I’ve always wanted to be featured in a BIG news paper for doing something awesome. Unfortunately who knew the awesome thing would be me giving mouth to mouth to my husband?! Or at least that’s what this EXTREMELY awkward moment the photographer caught looks like. (photo source)