British Streakers Descend On Pamplona For ‘Running Of The Nudes’

For Immediate Release:
1 July 2003

Contact:
Sean Gifford 020 7357 9229, ext. 226; 0773 457 9092 (mobile)
Bruce Friedrich 020 7357 9229, ext. 224

London – Forty Brits are setting off to join hundreds of runners from around the world – most wearing nothing more than red scarves and plastic horns on their heads but some looking quite respectable – to run through the streets of Pamplona before the ‘Running of the Bulls’, in a ‘Human Race’. The goal of their eye-catching and slightly oddball outing is to let tourists know that there is a win-win alternative to a stampede of frightened animals who end up tormented and slaughtered in the Pamplona bullring after the traditional race.

The British contingent, a diverse group of school teachers, a banker, a 16-year-old student and others, will be travelling to Pamplona by coach. Their 20-hour journey departs with a send-off from central London.

Date: Thursday, 3 July
Time: 2:15 p.m. boarding for 2:45 p.m. departure
Place: York Way, next to the King’s Cross underground station

The ‘Human Race’ will take place:

Date: Saturday, 5 July
Time: 1 p.m. sharp
Place: The same course as the Running of the Bulls, from the Santo Domingo Corrals to the Plaza de Toros

The Running of the Bulls is tourist-driven, with most visitors unaware of the cruelty to which the bulls are subjected before and after the run. Electric prods and sharp sticks are used to torment and frighten the animals into a stampede. As the bulls run to escape their tormentors, they often fall, sustaining bruises, cuts and, on occasion, broken bones. In the bullfights following the run, bulls are often intentionally debilitated with tranquilisers and beatings so that they are easier to kill. According to The New York Times, as many as 90 per cent of tourists who attend bullfights never return to another after witnessing the cruel spectacle.

‘We hope that our Human Race will start a new tradition, in the same way “whale watch” boating trips have replaced real whaling boats’, says PETA UK’s Director Dawn Carr. ‘If tourists knew what these animals go through, they’d run straight out of town.’

This year’s ‘Running of the Nudes’ boasts 10 times as many participants as the first race, which includes runners from the Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the UK, Canada, the US, Mexico, Australia, Italy and Spain.

To view footage of last year’s Human Race, visit RunningOfTheNudes.com.