Two Crees survive Spain’s traditional test of manhood

When Cree lawyer Jean-Paul Murdoch suggested to his son Max that they experience the famous Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, he never expected Max to take him seriously.

“We were talking about philosophy, because he’s 20 and not sure what he wants to do with his life, and I said, ‘To move forward you need something to look forward to, something dramatic to evolve,’” Murdoch told the Nation. “He asked me, ‘Like what?’ And I just said, ‘Like the Running of the Bulls.’”

The bull run, or encierro in Spanish, involves crowds of men trying to avoid a stampede of bulls running down fenced-off city streets. There are often injuries and occasional fatalities.

As Murdoch explained to his son what that was, he realized that he may have made a bit of a mistake. He had figuratively referenced the bull run and didn’t expect his son to jump on board. Murdoch decided not to bring the idea up again for months, hoping that Max would lose interest. But, months later Max was still intent on going.

Plane tickets to Spain were purchased for the first week of July and a hotel was booked.

“I was terrified, but I didn’t want to disappoint him. I don’t think either of us really had a clue as to what we were walking into, I mean we watched City Slickers with Billy Crystal in preparation, but this was not the same thing,” joked Murdoch.

Upon their arrival Murdoch said he really couldn’t believe his eyes, and the realization kicked in for both that this was real – and completely insane. The city streets were packed with people in town for the running and things seemed a bit unhinged. According to Murdoch, the loud Spanish music playing everywhere created a very strange atmosphere of anticipation.

The two scoped out the course, which Murdoch said was at points very narrow and cobblestoned, much like Old Montreal. In preparation, the two went to sleep very early so that they could arrive on the scene to get a good position for the 8 am event.

Arriving at 5:30 am, the streets were crowded with people still drinking and dancing and playing music from the night before, some even lining up to do the run.

“It was really hard to believe,” Murdoch exclaimed. “But, at the same time, it was kind of reassuring. There were all of these drunk and elderly people and so I thought this can’t be that bad.”

As the police picked through the inebriated, they also handed out brochures about putting phones away and not taunting the bulls. Officials then went from person to person taking their information: where they were from, emergency contact information and so on. That’s when it dawned on them that they could be badly hurt or be killed.

By 7:40, it was down to business. Murdoch said he asked Max a final time if he still wanted to do this. “Yes!” was the resounding response.

“The tension was palpable, if anyone was drunk before, they weren’t drunk anymore,” noted Murdoch. “I have never felt collective anxiety and fear like this before in my life. The crowd was tense. They knew something bad was about to happen.”

With the bulls now moments away, Murdoch said that they were now down to about 5% of the original group that had shown up at 6 am.

A cannon is fired to announce that the bulls have arrived and then a second time when they are released into the streets.

“When the second cannon went off we were pretty close to the front and so I just grabbed Max and yelled, ‘Run!’”

Having researched a strategy, the two tried to stay near the inside to allow the bulls to pass through the narrow points. And while Murdoch stayed on the inside, as he approached a turn, he looked back to see Max, who he thought was right behind him, in the middle of the street being hoisted up by a bull and being launched towards the gate.

“He hit the ground and the police rolled him under the fence. By the time I got to him they were strapping him down on a stretcher. The police held me back and told me he was okay. Max kept telling me he was okay, but as a parent I had to get to him,” said Murdoch.

He wasn’t allowed to travel in the ambulance and the throngs of people made it impossible to take a taxi, so Murdoch ran the three or four kilometres to the hospital fired up with parental adrenaline.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, he saw his son make the bull sign with his hand and the emergency room staff and patients erupted into applause. Murdoch could only cry, however. He had found his son safe, in one piece and coherent – it was over. Murdoch said he didn’t even sleep that night while watching his son, waking him every time his breathing changed.

When the two went to breakfast the next day, they had forgotten that Max (who speaks Spanish) had given an interview to a local journalist outside of the hospital. So they were surprised to see a full-page article – complete with photos of Max getting upended by a bull – in that day’s paper. Max had become an overnight celebrity.

Murdoch observed that while the adventure didn’t help his son decide what he wants to do with his life, it certainly gave him a new perspective.