He had rented a room in a house that was three to four kilometers from Pamplona. He barely used the bed. It was more a place where to go every other day to change clothes and take a shower. "The most important thing was partying”. Noel Chandler a welsh from Newport (12 miles from Cardiff) aged 76 was an enthusiast about bullfighting.
He discovered San Fermin recommended by the famous matador Antonio Ordóñez (now deceased). One morning stood in a doorway on Estafeta St to watch the Running of the Bulls and admitted he was frozen by fear when he saw the human landslide mixed with bulls hooves sounding like howls coming to him. "I remember so clearly the runner’s faces and the rush in my heart”. After this, he decided to learn how to run in the Dead Man Corner as it most the most coveted part and he wanted to become a true runner among all the foreigners participating in the Bull Run.
He was an amateur glimpsing the abyss, but was hooked by his promise to Mat Carny, from Chicago. This gentleman was a wounded soldier who had escaped the carnage of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Their history was really unique. During 20 years they participate and care for each other while running with the bulls. Always "next to each other”. They became such a good friends that when he Carny died he decided to take care of his daughter, Deirdre, who was six years old at the time.
In 2001, Noel had a history on his back of running with the bulls for 40 years on a raw as well as being Fujitsu Vice president and he decided to give up running as he could tell he was more a “bump in the road”. As bullfighting enthusiast he would use the term: “Cut his ponny tail” But in 2003, he decided to run one more time when he found out that the Conde de la Corte Livestock where participating in the San Fermin Festival again. This was a unique run, his last run.
Nowadays with half a century attending San Fermin Bull Runs, he has become one of the most respected runners. He watches the Running of the Bulls from his apartment facing Estafeta St. He used to rent a balcony but finally decided to buy an apartment that was the closest he could find to his adored “Dead Man Corner” intersection. He still describes the feeling as if it was the first time: "Every morning, when I see the herd turning the Dead Man Curve, that “smething” gets in my lungs and I cannot breathe properly!
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO RENT A SPOT FROM A PRIVILEGED BALCONY, RIGHT IN THE DEAD MAN CORNER, TO WATCH THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS IN SAN FERMIN FESTIVAL, LOG IN THIS LINK AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED!
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