Ernest Hemingway’s grandson adds novelty to Pamplona bull run

Ernest Hemingway's grandson joined in a relatively uneventful running of the the bulls in Pamplona 50 years after the death of the author, who made Spain's San Fermin festival famous.

At least three people were injured, none of them seriously, in the 846.6 meter dash, in which runners are chased through the narrow cobblestone streets of Pamplona by six Iberian fighting bulls and six steers. The run takes a little over two minutes, and gorings are a common occurrence.

John Hemingway, 50, told London's Telegraph newspaper:

"It was terrifying to see those beasts thundering towards me. But I survived it and I think Ernest would have approved."

The Nobel prize recipient — who made San Fermin central to the plot of his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" — never ran with the bulls, although he reportedly visited the festival at least nine times.

Hemingway, who was only 11 months old when his grandfather killed himself, defended the author:

”It wasn't that he was scared. I don't think anyone could accuse him of not being brave. But he did have shrapnel in his legs left over from the war and I think that made running difficult."

Ernest Hemingway served in World War I and on July 8, 1918, only a few weeks after arriving, was seriously wounded by fragments from an Austrian mortar shell  that landed a few feet away.