Running with the Bulls, New Orleans style

Otherwise titled: "Why I can't sit down right now."


So here in New Orleans. everything gets celebrated, even Spain's Festival of San Fermin. A couple thousand people came out this morning to run the streets of New Orleans, just like they're doing in Spain right now.

Yep, even Elvis.

Of course we can't have real bulls here. Half these people are drunk by 8am...it'd be a slaughter. But they had to have something, so they brought in "bulls" in the form of roller derby girls from all across the south. Roller derby girls with bats.

It got real, right from the beginning. The runners ran, and the skating bulls batted.

Over a course of about a mile, we ran/walked and tried to dodge these fast-moving, agile angry women.

Aw damn...this one sees me.

There were so many bulls and they moved so fast. You try to keep an eye one one or two and another zips up from behind and WHACK! Few were spared, least of all those of us cheeky enough to paste target stickers on our backsides....or those of us who threw taunts as the skaters skated by, not realizing that they'd all be waiting for us at the end of the run.

This one had my number too.

And they wasn't the only ones. I might have jeered at a few too many, probably like this guy.

But finally we reached the end. And there was a band.

And a few dozen more bat-wielding Amazons who were out for blood as they worked to get everyone trying to cross the finish line. I was too busy dodging to get more pics.

But it was fun, and the money collected went for charity so that's some consolation for how I'm feeling now.