A Pamplona-inspired running of the bulls is coming to Pennsylvania next summer.
A Berks County raceway is hosting the event, a recreation of the Spanish tradition.
Rob Dickens, one of the organizers behind the Great Bull Run, is staging events across the country beginning this month.
He said the bulls run not because they’re angry, but because they’re trained – though he doesn’t imagine that will diminish the adrenaline rush for runners.
"Believe me when you get in the track with these massive bulls bearing down on you, there’s no thought in your mind at all, ‘This is a little bit too tame for me, I wish it was more dangerous.’"
Unlike in Pamplona, where the bulls’ horns are sharpened, the bulls in the domestic races will have horns that are blunt.
Dickens said his event has to satisfy federal and state livestock regulations, but that’s being handled by the rodeo company supplying the bulls.
An agent with the Large Protection Animal Society said it wouldn’t appear the organizers mistreat animals, but adds it’ll be hard to keep participants from abusing them.
