Bull-runner Omara Martinez poses for a portrait in the course of the San Fermín pageant in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photograph/Miguel Oses)
PAMPLONA, Spain — Dressed within the conventional bull runner’s garb of a white shirt and crimson neck-scarf, Yomara Martínez, 30, sprinted within the death-defying morning run or “encierros” going down this week within the northern Spanish metropolis of Pamplona.
But regardless of being in a crowd of 1000’s, Martínez was amongst solely a handful of ladies daredevils working with the stampeding bulls on the San Fermín Competition.
“On the finish of the day, the bull doesn’t learn about sexes, age or physique form,” Martinez mentioned. “It doesn’t matter in case you are girl.”
Yearly, 1000’s of individuals line the medieval streets of Pamplona to witness the centuries-old custom of working with bulls. Many watch from balconies and picket barricades alongside the course. Thousands and thousands extra comply with the spectacle on tv.
Girls bull runners are uncommon, although Martínez and different ladies collaborating within the adrenaline-fueled custom as greater than mere spectators say it’s rising in recognition.
READ: Pamplona attracts 1000’s of revelers for working of the bull pageant
“There are occasions I really feel small. And ask myself ‘what am I doing right here?’ As a result of, though you could not need to, you do really feel barely inferior due to your physique,” mentioned 32-year-old Sara Puñal, an administrator who took half in Sunday’s run.
“However within the second, you might be all equal,” Puñal mentioned of the run.
The bulls pound alongside the twisting cobblestone streets after being led by six steers. As much as 4,000 runners participate in every bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 ft) and may final two to 4 minutes.
Spanish runners
The skilled Spanish runners attempt to dash simply in entrance of the bull’s horns for a couple of seconds whereas egging the animal on with a rolled newspaper. Gorings are usually not uncommon, however many extra persons are bruised and injured in falls and pileups with one another.
“I believe many have a want to see what it looks like however they don’t attempt due to concern,” mentioned Paula López, 32, a store assistant who additionally took half in a run earlier within the week. López mentioned she grew up within the masculine world of bull preventing. She wasn’t fazed by how few ladies participate within the occasion.
“It’s sophisticated, however it’s fairly thrilling,” López mentioned.
The occasion’s repute took successful years in the past following complaints by ladies about having suffered sexual harassment and abuse from revelers.
In 2016, 5 males raped an 18-year-old girl in the course of the pageant in an notorious case that sparked an outcry throughout Spain. The lads, who had a WhatsApp group named “La Manada,” or “The Animal Pack,” had been imprisoned for 15 years by the Supreme Court docket in 2019.
Since then, organizers have mentioned they’ve stepped up safety measures.
Girls didn’t take part within the bull runs till 1975 because of a decree repealed one yr earlier that prohibited ladies, youngsters and the aged from being within the streets the place the bulls run in the course of the pageant.
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The spectacle was made internationally well-known by Ernest Hemingway’s basic 1926 novel “The Solar Additionally Rises,” about American bohemians losing away in Europe.
