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City employee survives runs with the bulls
by John Tawa
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SAL SURVIVOR: Manhattan Beach city employee Sal Kaddorah ran with the bulls in Pamplona and lived to talk about it. Photo by John Tawa. |
Manhattan Beach Principal Plancheck Engineer Sal Kaddorah is an adventurer. The 37-year-old, unmarried Redondo Beach resident has been skydiving and bungee jumping -- anything for a thrill.
"I try to do something crazy every year," he explained.
So when friends suggested a July getaway to Pamplona, Spain, to run with the bulls, he jumped at the opportunity.
"I didn't even think twice," he said.
The running of the bulls is a longstanding tradition in Pamplona, a city of 170,000 people 250 miles north of Madrid. It is part of La Fiesta de San Fermin, dedicated to the saint who was martyred when bulls dragged him through the city's streets.
Although other Spanish cities also have bull runs, Pamplona's is by far the most famous. Every year, images of brave (or stupid) souls being gored by 2,000-pound bulls are beamed from Pamplona to curious and horrified viewers, making the running of the bulls a worldwide attraction.
Kaddorah and his friends arrived in Pamplona Sunday, July 9, during the festival's third day. The bulls run each morning of the festival. The bulls who will fight in the afternoon bullfights and a few others are released from a corral and romp 1,000 yards through streets filled with tens of thousands of adventurers until they reach the bullfighting stadium Plaza de Toros. Six-foot high wooden fences barricade the slippery, cobblestoned path, meaning there's no way out.
On the day Kaddorah's group arrived, one person was killed, causing some of Kaddorah's friends to reconsider. Not Kaddorah.
"I said, 'No. I came all the way here to do it, I'm going to do it,'" Kaddorah explained. "I wasn't even nervous. But when you start running, your heart starts pumping and the adrenaline flows."
Kaddorah selected Monday for his run, the day the professionals run, historically the most dangerous day when the most aggressive bulls are released. Just before 8 a.m., there he was, dressed in traditional garb -- white pants and shirt and red belt -- standing in the street, 100 yards from the corral. Surrounding him were hundreds of people who had spent all night partying on cheap sangria.
"I couldn't believe people could party all night like that and then run in the morning," he said. "They have to clean the streets before the run, because there's glass and bottles everywhere. And they're running. These are guys who could not even stand up."
At 8 a.m., the cannon sounded and the bulls were released, three first, followed by the remaining six 30 seconds later. Kaddorah and the throng started running. Kaddorah ran halfway and then ducked into a recessed doorway to allow the first bulls to pass. He then chased the bulls into the stadium, all the while mindful of the other bulls on his tail. He tried to get close enough to touch the bulls, but was unsuccessful.
"What was going through my head was to make it through safely," he said. "When you're running, some of the extra stuff becomes secondary. More dangerous than bulls getting you and goring you are people falling in front of you. I must have avoided 12 pileups in that little half-mile run."
In three minutes it was over, but Kaddorah had the thrill of a lifetime.
He was also very lucky. The day he ran, a man was critically injured when the bull "Tormenta" decided to make a U-turn during his run. The man was gored and carried 50 meters before he was dropped. Others were also gored.
Kaddorah said that he never contemplated his own mortality.
"The thought never crossed my mind. I had enough confidence that I could overcome any obstacles. Of course, looking at what happened, the people who got injured were not being daredevils; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Years from now, Kaddorah said he would probably step back and contemplate the unnecessary risk that he took.
"But I'll also tell my kids, if I have any, that I was able to run with these bulls, that I was crazy enough to do it."
With Pamplona behind him, Kaddorah said he is looking forward to his next big adventure, something in South America he thinks.
Swimming with the piranhas perhaps. ER