So, I thought I would take some time to fill in the details.
We woke up on Sunday morning about 4 am so that we would get to the main streets in time to make the run. From our previous experience, all the good viewing spots for the 8 am bull run are taken by 6 am or sooner, so we wanted to make sure we would be in good shape to run.
One item that made the situation worse is that it had rained all night and continued to drizzle in the morning. In these scenarios the bulls tend to separate and become more dangerous. Normally, we would have passed on the run until Monday, but we realized that this was Shawn's only chance to run. So, we charged forward. Made the 1.5 mile walk to the strip and the streets were FULL of drunk people. However, it was a very gross scene. The streets were wet and filled with garbage and stank beyond belief. People were drinking and chanting in the streets. This continued for the next 2-1/2 hours or so. Intermittently, a street sweeper would break through the crowd to "clean up" one side of the main street, Calle de Estefeta.
Next, a giant truck with a water tank and hoses came to hose down the street as people partied around it. More street sweepers. This carried on for over an hour before the crowd started to dwindle. We staked out an area to start and stood nervously. Several people came to us and said that we could not run from this area. Other locals were sure to state that it is dangerous and we shouldn't run... especially after a rainy morning. At about 7:20 or so, a wall of police came by and began to shuffle everyone off the main street to the side streets. "Will we not be able to run?" we wondered. They told us we needed to enter elsewhere.
We started off in a group walking down a side street for another entrance. Then began to walk quickly because we knew the entire course is cut off to runners at 7:30am. Soon, we were rushing along the course to find entry. Then we began to separate as the mission became clear: we had to get in! I dashed forward following and then passing Rob. I followed a group of Australians as I was now in a dead sprint to make entry into the run. We were running out of time! Up the side streets near the church, near Dead Man's Corner and to a fenced barricade. I quickly crawled through the fence area and made it into the neutral zone, then passing through another fence area and onto the course. I was committed now. "Where was everyone else?"
I hear a voice not far behind me and it is John... soon after Rob caught up as well. The course was cut off as people around us were denied entry. A huge mass of people smashed together in a human corrale near Dead Man's corner. The crowd chanted at officials and girls in the windows and balconies above. Eventually, we saw Keith, who also made it. He was smashed up against a building looking toward us. Rob reached out his hand to get Keith to join our little group. He came in and by now we had to again lock arms Red Rover style to hold our place. The crowd swayed and moved like a choppy sea. We had to push our arms out so that we could create enough space to breathe. Cops sliced through, dividing the crowd in half and making entry room for some the veteran runners and participating matadors. As they backed away, the crowd moved quickly to fill the space the cops had sliced. Everyone yelled as the crowd pushed forward. We had to struggle to stay on our feet. At moments, some of us lost our footing and our feet didn't touch the ground as the sea of people swelled. It became harder to breathe and the fear of being trampled set in as people began to panic. Rob declared, "Man, our plan is screwed." I look up and asked if he knew where we were. "No!" he replied. I noted that Dead Man's Corner is straight ahead, and we absolutely needed to take a right at the no entry sign above, "That´s Estefeta... we HAVE to be on the inside right of that area when this starts because the bulls will go wide" I said.
However, no one knew what would happen next. We had not read anything about any of this scenario. Would they really keep us huddled in this smashed mass of people as they released the bulls?! It would be bloody murder!
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