Thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies alike will get their chance to outrun a stampede of bulls this month.
After a nine-year hiatus, Running of the Bulls USA is taking over the town of Cave Creek in northern Maricopa County from Oct. 14 to 16. This will be the fourth time the event has taken place on American soil, said Phil Immordino, event director for Running of the Bulls USA.
“This is an event that gets a lot of people excited,” Immordino said. “We’ve got individuals around the country that can’t make it to Spain so they want the opportunity to do it here in America and we’re giving them that opportunity.”
The event was first held in Mesquite, Nev., in 1998 and then in 1999, according to the press release and in 2002 the event moved to the Rawhide Western Town in Scottsdale.
“The main reason (for the move) is that Mesquite is kind of too far off the beaten path,” Immordino said. “Mesquite is a good little town but it’s hard to get people to drive an hour, hour and a half and it was definitely hard to get sponsors up there so I brought it here to Arizona.”
The three-day event will begin with a charity run supporting the Fresh Start Community and ASU’s Undie Run with $15 of every ticket sale throughout the weekend going to these charities.
Public Relations Director for the Undie Run and journalism junior Kayla Frost said the group partnered with the event because it’s an alternative way of raising money while running and still having the option of taking clothes off.
“It’s not a requirement but if you want you can,” Frost joked, referring to the choice of shedding clothes.
“It’s just another kind of fun event that has to do with running,” she said. “It’s just a different way to do charity, running with bulls, running in your underwear. It’s just fun.”
The event will feature four bull runs on Oct. 15 and on Oct. 16, there will be three runs with 20 bulls per run, Immordino said.
There will be live entertainment, food, drinks and exhibit booths.
Immordino said there has been no injuries in the event’s three-year tenure and there will be emergency medical facilities and the Carefree Fire Department on site, as well as escape routes and event crew picking up runners if they fall.
“They have a pretty safe track record on all the other times they have these events,” Chief John Kraetz of the Carefree Fire Department said. “We don’t anticipate many problems.”
Cave Creek businesses are hoping to get a boost in sales during the event. Harold’s Corral’s part-owner Danny Piacquadio said this unique event will draw a lot of tourists to the small country town.
“It’s a unique event that’s going to bring a lot of attention to the town and we assume a lot of tourists and a lot of people will come up and visit Cave Creek,” Piacquadio said. “And as a business owner we hope to see a lot of people here and listen to our great music and taste all of our great food so we’re excited about the event.”
Participants must be at least 18 years old and can register to run at runwiththebullusa.com and is $26.50 in advance or $35 the day of. Spectator passes range from $6.50 to $21.50. The event will be at 6705 E. Cave Creek Blvd.
Reach the reporter at sraymund@asu.edu
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