PAMPLONA, Spain – The iconic yet dangerous annual San Fermin festival saw a chaotic fifth morning bull run on Saturday, leaving one thrill-seeking runner with a severe facial goring and a dozen more needing emergency medical care for injuries sustained during the 875-meter dash through Pamplona’s historic narrow streets. This year’s event carries a special milestone, marking a full century since the release of Ernest Hemingway’s *The Sun Also Rises* — the novel that catapulted this regional Spanish celebration to global notoriety, drawing thousands of first-time participants and international tourists every year.
During the two-and-a-half-minute run, six fighting bulls and their guiding steers charged through tightly packed crowds that lined the cobblestone course from the holding pen to the city’s bullring, where the animals will be killed by professional bullfighters later the same day. The confined space and panicked movement of participants created multiple dangerous pileups, with dozens of runners knocked off balance as the massive animals surged through. What made the incident even more unpredictable was an early breakaway: a black bull separated from the main pack just moments into the run and charged directly into a clustered group of runners, striking one participant in the side of the face with its horn. While officials have not confirmed this breakaway charge was the exact moment the facial goring occurred, it was the most high-risk incident of the day.
Officials from the University of Navarra Hospital confirmed that one runner suffered a horn penetration to the face, while 12 additional people sought treatment for minor bruises, scrapes, and other impact injuries from the rush. Witness accounts note that many inexperienced participants failed to notice how close the bulls were until the animals were mere feet behind them; surprisingly, several bulls did not attempt to gore runners and instead simply pushed people out of their path to continue along the course.
This year’s eight-day festival has drawn extra attention for its centennial connection to Hemingway’s work, which introduced the adrenaline-fueled tradition to audiences across the globe. While the sport carries inherent risk, major fatalities have been rare: the last death recorded during a San Fermin bull run dates back to 2009. Even so, non-fatal injuries including gorings and broken bones remain a regular occurrence, a trend experts attribute to the growing mix of novice runners and international tourists with little experience navigating the high-stakes course alongside more practiced local participants.