Great Bull Run Coming To Chicago Next Year

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 6, 2013 9:45PM

Photo credit: Pablo Blazquez/Getty images

Have you ever wanted to run with the bulls in Spain but can’t afford to take a month off for the privilege of being gored by an angry bull? Have no fear: Spain is coming to the Chicago area next summer.

The Great Bull Run is coming to Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero July 12, 2014. Thrill seekers may now register for the privilege (and sign a waiver accepting the risks of being chased down a narrow passage by two dozen possibly angry bulls). It’s only $35 until Jan. 17, 2014; after that the sliding scale entry fee moves upward.

The entry fee gains you admission to the running of the bulls and participation in the accompanying Tomato Royale fight held on the same day. If you don’t want to risk being gored or pelted with overripe tomatoes, you can register to be a spectator for $10 and make fun of the proceedings like Statler and Waldorf in The Muppets.

Rob Dickens, co-founder and chief operating officer of the Great Bull Run, told WBEZ organizers are doing their best to keep participants safe by using tame bulls and fences that even people of average Midwestern girth can scale with a rush of adrenaline, but aren’t making promises. (As if the waiver wasn’t enough.)

“When you think about it, what is a rodeo?” Dickens said, “A rodeo is a human strapped to a bull’s back. A very, very big and aggressive bull, and we allow that all the time and this is really no different. They accept that as what makes the event exciting. You know, you remove the danger then you remove the entire point of the event.”