PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) -- Thrill-seekers sprinted through Pamplona in a swift and relatively clean start to the running of the bulls. No one was gored on Tuesday, but four people were hospitalized with bumps, bruises or scrapes, Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said. "I feared for my life. It was pretty intense," said 23-year-old runner Mark Kowalski of Edmonton, Alberta. The six fighting bulls and six bell-tinkling steers -- meant to keep them in a tight pack -- charged down the 930-yard (850-meter) course from a holding pen to the northern town's bull ring. Runners, wearing traditional white clothing and red kerchiefs around their necks, tripped over each other or fell after getting bumped by bulls or steers. People came from all over the world to test their bravery and enjoy nonstop street parties. Spanish Television said about 2,000 people took part in the first of eight runs at the famed San Fermin festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises."(20 images)
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Revelers run on Estafeta Street as people look on from the balconies during the run of the Alcurrucen fighting bulls at the San Fermin festival, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Tuesday, July 7. Thrillseekers sprinted through Pamplona in a swift and relatively clean start to the running of the bulls. No one was gored on Tuesday, but four people were hospitalized with bumps, bruises or scrapes, Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said. AP / Alvaro Barrientos
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