(by Philip Haldiman azcentral.com 7-12-13)
Heading into its third year in Cave Creek, Running With The Bulls USA has become a staple event in the northeast Valley, and event officials say it stands to be more of a draw this year.
Promoter Phil Immordino has announced that the event, scheduled for October, will expand to two days, nearly double the runs and more than double the cash prizes.
“We’re serious about making this an extreme sport,” he said.
But town officials remain concerned about the potential dangers of the event.
Last year, the event ran over one day with seven runs, and a $1,000 cash prize for the top runner. This year, it’s scheduled to run over two days with six runs each day and a $500 cash prize for the top runner in each race.
Immordino said a $5,000 grand prize will be given out, for a total of more than $10,000 in cash prizes this year, encouraging participants to run as close to the bulls for as long as they can.
He’s also brought on a public-relations firm to improve marketing, in particular social media, which wasn’t aggressively used in the past. He’s hoping this, along with increased prize money, will lead to a bigger turnout.
“In light of the mud runs, the Spartan races and all the other extreme sports out there, we’re looking to expand our opportunity, and also capitalize on social media, maximizing Facebook, YouTube and Twitter,” he said.
Immordino, a Phoenix native, is no stranger to spearheading these high-risk events. This will be the sixth Americanized running of the bulls he has promoted — in 1998 and ’99 in Mesquite, Nev., and in 2002 at Rawhide, when it was located in Scottsdale.
He said the same safety precautions that were used last year will be used again this year — a wide, quarter-mile track, rodeo clowns and escape exits every 100 feet.
The bull runs will take place on 7 acres owned by Cave Creek resident Collin “T.C.” Thorstenson in the town’s commercial core.
For the two years Cave Creek has played host to the bull run, the event has drawn ire from animal-rights activists and others concerned about safety, attracting national media because of the controversy.
The first year, the town rescinded a special-event permit because of insurance and safety concerns. Town officials said that because the bull run is on private property, the promoter can still hold the event, but because the permit was rescinded, making it an unsanctioned town event, Cave Creek is not liable for claims that may happen during the runnings.
Mayor Vincent Francia said he’s had concerns since the beginning.
Last year, two people were sent to the hospital and at least six others suffered minor injuries after “bigger and badder” bulls were brought in for the second event. Immordino said runners at the first event in Cave Creek complained of “wimpy” bulls.
“The first year, they were your grandfather’s calves posing as bulls,” Francia said. “Then during the second year, they brought in the big bulls.”
Francia said he doesn’t want to deprive a subculture of thrill seekers, but says that at the same time, he has to make sure the town is protected, while respecting people’s private-property rights.
Francia says he holds his breath every year when the bulls are released from the starting gates.
“When we do the event, we get swamped with e-mails from all over the world,” he said. “I get the extreme-sports stuff. I do. But this is taking place in Cave Creek. We’re not Spain. At what point do you say, ‘Whoops’? Does it take someone to get hurt or for someone to die?”
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/20130708annual-cave-creek-bull-run-expand-days.html
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