Bull's eye

A member of one of Marshall University’s fraternities participated in San Fermin’s running of the bulls.

Chris Miller, senior history major from Wyomissing, Pa., is a member of the Delta Chi fraternity and was one of thousands to take part in the running of the bulls during July’s San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Miller spent two months during the summer studying Spanish at Nebrija University in Madrid.  He was able to take the trip with the summer study abroad program sponsored by Marshall.

Miller said he jumped at the opportunity to attend San Fermin when he saw a flyer on his campus for a company chartering buses to Pamplona.

“Before I came to Madrid, I was hoping I would get the chance to go to San Fermin,” Miller said.  “A lot of people at the university had talked about going.  When I saw the flyer on campus, that’s when I knew that I was going.”

San Fermin is an annual festival that takes place in the city of Pamplona, Spain for one week in July. People from all over the world come to Pamplona to celebrate the event. 

Throughout the week of San Fermin, every morning there is an organized run with bulls through the streets of Pamplona and every night there is a city-wide fiesta after each run.

On the morning of July 11, Miller and classmate Cameron Bourque, 19, from Houston met at Madrid’s Plaza de España to catch their charter bus for the four-hour drive to Pamplona.

The charter bus arrived at the Pamplona bus station at approximately 6 p.m.  Miller and Bourque entered the city and found nearly everyone dressed in the traditional white pants, white shirts, red belts and red sashes.  Miller, Bourque and the rest of the group were taken to the town square where the guides said their goodbyes for the night.  After breaking away from the group, Miller and Bourque purchased their clothes for the weekend and took part in the festivities of San Fermin.

Running of the bulls, also known as Encierro, is an 825-meter run through the streets of Pamplona.  The course runs from the gates in the North where the bulls are released and ends inside the ring of the Plaza de Toros arena in the South where the bulls are later killed.

At 6 a.m. on July 12, Miller and Bourque took their places among thousands of runners approximately one hundred meters away from the gates.  Two hours later, the firing of the first rocket signaled the start of the sixth day of running, and the bulls were released.
“After the rocket went off, I saw what looked like a wave of people coming around the corner,” Miller said.  “So I went with it.”

Miller and Bourque ran through the streets of Pamplona alongside thousands of people as well as six very wild animals.

“As a Texan, I pride myself on being a man who can handle almost anything,” Bourque said. “So of course, I talked about running it from the beginning and acted tough. Although when the time came, I was shaking like a massage chair.”

Miller said he remembers when he turned the first corner of his route. He said he almost lost his footing on the brick streets still drenched in beer from the night before.

Miller recalls walking through the same streets hours before running. Miller said music rang throughout the town, and he along with thousands of people packed the city’s streets parading and singing in honor of the city’s patron saint.

“I am a full-blooded Cajun,” Bourque said. “Every year I go to see my family in Louisiana for Mardi Gras. I thought New Orleans had the craziest parties in the world.  I couldn’t fathom how big and crazy this party was.”

Miller continued his course hurdling fallen runners, dodging elbows and maneuvering past other runners. Miller said he kept a steady pace, keeping in mind the precautions his tour guide had told him on the ride up.  The guide informed Miller and Bourque to run in a straight line to avoid falling, and not to move from where they lay if they did fall, but to let the stampede of bulls and people run past them.

“I had to look after myself,” Miller said. “There is no time to stop and smell the roses.”

During the final stretch of his run, Miller looked over his shoulder for the first time since he began his run and saw one bull at his side with two more close behind. Miller said at one point, each of the bulls horns were within one foot of his waist.

Earlier Miller and Bourque had learned of a death in the running the previous day. It was the first death of this year’s festival and put Miller and Bourque a little on edge about their decision to run.

“I knew the risks in running, but I looked at it in the same way people look at car crashes,” Miller said. “It happens all the time, but you still get in the car and drive. I was in Pamplona at the time when it all was happening, and nothing was going to stop me from running with the bulls.”

As soon as the bulls passed him, Miller made an adrenaline-fueled leap over the barricade to absolve himself from the run and any further danger of injuring himself. 

“I met Chris after the run and all we could do is yell and scream at each other,” Bourque said. “We couldn’t even speak words. The staying up with no sleep, defeating death and our ride home didn’t matter to us. We jumped and hollered and jumped right back in the street to catch up with the bulls.”

Soon after the run was over, it was time to return to the station for the 9 a.m. bus back to Madrid.

“I felt like I had accomplished something that people can only dream about or only see on the travel channel,” Bourque said.

“It was the quickest minute of my life,” Miller said.  “Running with the bulls was one of the best experiences of my life.  It is something I will tell my kids about in the future.”

Miller encourages students to utilize Marshall’s study abroad program.


Carlton Apgar can be contacted at apgar5@marshall.edu.