The Running of the Bulls

The running of the bulls is the most characteristic episode of the San Fermin Fiesta. This is due to the fact that the fiesta has earned universal fame and is broadcast live in July during the festival. This event is held from the 7th -14th each day at eight in the morning.

The participants are mainly comprised of young men. They run ahead of the bulls so as to direct them from the pen to the bull ring. This usually goes on for a couple of minutes or more. In case of any complications arising as a result of loose bulls, the event can last a little longer.

 

The distance of the run is about 830 meters and one need not sign up at any place to participate. You just have to enter the race, select the street that you would like to run, and do the best you can. In the mid 1800s, runners joined the herd during their journey when the process of shifting the bulls began from the outskirts of the town to a bullring.

 

Early in the morning, wooden fencing is erected along the lines of the route. The local police then clear away the night-long revellers from the lanes. The accumulated rubbish caused by the enjoyment and merriment in the night is cleared away by the street cleaners.

 

Except for the first-aid team, nobody, including the spectators, is expected to wait along the path. The reason for this is to provide the runners with space in case of an emergency. So now, with the shutting up of the fence, the only entrance to the gateway is the Plaza del Mercado gateway. The runners, who have gathered at base of Santo Domingo, start the run by singing a homily in the praise of San Fermin, asking for his blessings and guidance during the running of the bulls.

 

As soon as the bulls are released into the streets, a rocket blows up and then they send up a second rocket to notify everyone about the bulls’ release. The bulls run as fast as the wind and it is not possible to race with them. So, the runners start off when the bulls are a good distance away. As they draw closer, the runners have to run as swiftly as possible before the bulls get closer. The best advice is to stay as close to them as possible for sometime and then exit as cleanly as you can. Be sure that you do not cross in the way of runners behind you. Watch out for a small gap, space on the fence, or the wall.

 

One needs to remember the risk that is inherent whilst running ahead of the bulls, an animal that weighs 600 kilos and has two sharp horns that can cut anything. Besides overcrowding, one has to be careful of not getting pushed and knocked over by the subsequent runners.

 

You will derive a certain degree of relief and satisfaction as the bulls go past you. The third rocket going off signifies that all the bulls have arrived in the ring and the final rocket indicates that the bulls have safely been directed into the pens.

Mobile Phone Throwing

Germans are the record holders for throwing the mobile phone the farthest. They can call themselves the best in this rare sport. The previous record of 65.80 meters, set by Heiko Scholl, was broken by Nico Morawa after four years.

 

This unique sport came into existing when a German mobile company started offering cheap phone sets that constantly kept breaking. So, an association called Kamenz came up with this idea of making the best use of the old phones by holding a competition which involved throwing the phone to the farthest that people really enjoyed.

 

We often wish we could chuck our old mobile phones away. Participating in the mobile phone throwing competition is the best way of recycling the unwanted set. This little-known sport has been going on since 2000 in Finland. Participants are encouraged to carry old mobiles. For hurling, phones are provided by the organizers as a replacement for your old phone. These unwanted phones are then recycled and donated to charity.

 

Your entry fee enables you to have three throws. This sport has pretty simple rules. Three chances are given to the participants to throw the phone. Participants have to be above 18 years of age. The world record set in Finland in the men and women’s category are 94.97m and 41.42m, respectively. So, get rid of your old, outdated, and unwanted phones in an environmental friendly way.

 

Every August, people all over the world gather in Finland in a town called Savonlinna to participate in the annual mobile phone throwing world championship. There are various categories in which one can participate: 1] The traditional way of throwing over the shoulders. Here, only the throw length is counted; 2] Freestyle, which has no age limit and the winner is decided by measurement lengthwise; and 3] Creative and style choreographic aesthetics are for juniors and for children of 12 years of age and below.

 

The weight of the phones for hurling varies between 220 grams and above 400 grams. Different kinds of models and brands are available. Contestants have to stay inside the throwing spot and the phone must be flung within the sector that has been marked. The honourable jury decision on disqualifying and accepting a throw is final.

 

The winner of the competition is awarded with — you guessed it — a new mobile phone. The Finns have always dominated this event. This event gets your frustration out as all of us like to throw away our phones after a certain period of time. This contest reflects the love-hate bond that the general public has with the mobile phone, which has become a part and parcel of contemporary living.

 

There is no formal training required for hurling a mobile phone. One needs to hurl the phone far away with all their might and vent all the anger and frustration that has built up. This event may seem crazy, but it provides an excellent opportunity for disposing of and recycling old phones without creating environmental hazards as well as enabling you to let off a lot of steam!

Pillow Fighting

A fascinating, inexpensive, and enjoyable game that most people have indulged in is pillow fighting. Most of us have indulged in this in our younger days at sleepovers or just as a silly game with your siblings. Surprisingly, it is also gaining popularity as a wacky sporting event in many parts of the world.

 

As a spectator sport, pillow fighting is often played in pubs where well-oiled patrons can cheer on their favourite competitors. Much hilarity is had by participants as well as spectators. Pubs that feature pillow fighting competitions usually allow betting by spectators. If there are many participants, a round-robin style event may even be played with the eventual winner receiving a cash prize or bar tab.

 

Whilst there are no ‘official’ rules for bar-room pillow fights, some rule variations are more common than others. One common method of play involves setting up a ‘ring’ with the two pillow fighters in the centre. A pillow fighting match consists of a predetermined number of rounds. Each round is played until one competitor places a foot outside the ring and a player is awarded one point for each round they win. At the end of all rounds, the player with the most points is the winner. Other versions of the game involve tallying how many successful hits a player gets on their opponent (which gets progressively harder unless the score-keeper stays sober), knocking one’s opponent to the ground and holding them for five seconds or stealing an opponent’s pillow.

 

More often than not, players of similar physical stature oppose each other. Even though the humble and seemingly harmless pillow is the weapon of combat, injuries may nonetheless occur if someone is over-powered by an opponent who is far bigger or stronger. One common rule that is designed to prevent injuries is that only a player’s pillow may make contact with their opponent’s body. Making contact, using other body parts, results in a point being awarded to one’s opponent for each foul committed.

 

As the name suggests, pillows are the only necessary equipment to play this wacky game. Depending on how inebriated the participants are, pyjamas may or may not be worn for added effect. When setting up the arena, organisers must make sure that furniture is moved far enough away from the playing area that players do not risk getting hurt. The pillows that players use also need to all be the same size. Pillows of different sizes and weights may, depending on the player’s tactics, give some players an unfair advantage over their opponents.

 

Some may write the sport off as a joke, but to be a truly good pillow fighter takes skill and talent. Lightning reflexes, quickness on one’s feet, tactical thinking and gamesmanship are all needed in abundance. For competitions that span several rounds, a decent amount of stamina is also required. Above all, the ability to display all these skills and attributes after having consumed large quantities of alcohol is the one factor that separates the best pillow fighters from all the rest.

50. Worm Charming

The world knows about snake charming but worm charming is something usually unheard of. However, not in the village of Willaston, Cheshire, considered the home of the World Championship for Worm Charming. This is an annual event taken seriously by folks at Willaston. 

 

There were rumours that this unusual sport did not originate from Willaston; however, it was here that rules where made. The event was properly documented in July of 1980 when Tom Shufflebotham amazed members of the International Federation of Charming Worms and Allied Pastimes (IFCWAP) by charming a total of 511 worms. 

 

Worm charming rules are rigid. It is clear that under no circumstances should the worms be harmed.   

 

The sport is usually open to solo players. However, for those who may find holding these slimy creatures too much for them, they can enlist the help of another person. The official worm handler in that case is called a “Gillie.”

 

Music and garden forks are used to let the worms find their way to the surface from a participant’s plot. Once these creatures surface, they are carefully transported to a place where they are meticulously counted. The participant with the most number of worms wins and is officially declared to be that year’s International Worm charmer. 

 

Organizers give the proper instructions on how to release the worms back to the earth where they came from. All of these are done after the event, making sure that all birds are finished with their food gathering so as not to make a feast with the worms charmed for the day.

49. Zorbing

Zorbonauts have landed and zorbing is their fave sport! As alien sounding as it may be, this sport is really more earthbound than you think.   

 

This sport was born early in the 1990s from the minds of two New Zealanders who just wanted to make walking on water possible. However, they found that they enjoyed it better on land. 

 

Zorbing is really nothing more than being trapped in a big inflatable ball and being rolled down a sloping terrain. It is a race to the finish line. The players have a view of the sky, then the grass, and the sky again … and really turn their world topsy turvy.

 

Andrew Akers and Dwayne van der Sluis, inventors of this sport and its unique contraption, swear that to date, not even one who has ever tried the sport ended up bathed in his earlier meals. 

 

Zorbonauts are given a choice as to whether they will be strapped to a harness or be tossed around without a harness, splashed with a bucket of water making it really slippery inside the zorb.

 

Players are also given a choice whether to be in the zorb solo or with a friend. 

 

This adventure sport is really not for those with weak stomachs or suffering from vertigo.  

For the little ones, those who are really too young to fit inside a zorb, Akers and van der Sluis invented a mini version — the zylinder.  This is a different yet fun way of tossing and tumbling inside an inflatable cylinder.

48. Ice diving

If you think diving as a sport is difficult enough, wait ‘til you do ice diving. Covered in layers upon layers of clothing, dry suit and inflatable vests, ice divers plunge into the sub zero water. 

 

Make no mistake though: this sport is not for one who is not properly trained as a diver.  You must be certified in both beginner and advanced open diving before you can even try this. Endorsed by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and the National Association of Underwater Instructors, it would not hurt if you do take serious lessons from these organizations before undertaking this sport. 

 

This recreational sport, although relatively new, is very popular with those skilled in ice salvaging as well as search-and-rescue operations. 

 

Ice divers carve out a triangular opening in the frozen body of water roughly measuring six feet on all sides. They make sure that they plunge into the freezing waters with a buddy and a team manning their harnesses, making sure to pull them out at the right time and at the slightest thought of impending danger.  

 

Dangerous as it may seem, ice divers could really not get enough of this sport. It offers them a view of another world where trout can literally be there for the picking as they are all in a deep sleep and unmindful of the ice divers. 

 

A gentle tug on the line will signal your team that you are ready to surface; that adventurous part of you satisfied and looking forward to your next dive.

47. Sepak Takraw

Care to play a game of sipa? What about rago or kator?  Or maybe takraw or sepak ragad? They are actually the same game known by different names. This popular Southeast Asian sport is officially known as sepak takraw — a combination of soccer, volleyball, hacky sack and badminton. 

 

It took a while to come up with a name favourable to all who view the sport as part of their tradition.  

 

Sepak Takraw is a combination of Malay and Thai words that when literally translated mean kickball. This game was traditionally played using hand-woven bamboo balls but the advent of technology changed that giving rise to synthetic balls. 

 

The sound of a whistle signals the start of the game. The first one to reach fifteen points in a set wins. This is a team sport of three players each and the object of the game is to keep the ball from reaching the ground. Players are allowed a maximum of three touches of the ball before transferring it to the opponent’s court. Knees, feet or heads are used …    no hands please. 

 

Sepak takraw was originally played with teams inside a circle. However, in the 1930s the use of a net was introduced, making the sport’s rules evolve a bit to something similar to volleyball or badminton.   

 

Soccer players land on their backs after executing bicycle kicks, while sepak takraw players don’t. They always manage to land on their feet even after doing aerial acrobatic kicks. This is such a mean task that spikers are also known by another term — killers.

46. Elephant Polo

Polo is usually known as a fast-paced sport done with riders on horses. If you wanted the same thrills in slower motion, then try elephant polo.

 

Invented in India in the 1900s, this particular sport was a favourite pastime of the English elite when the country was still under the British Empire.

 

It is played almost the same way as regular polo with a few exceptions: 1) The elephants are not allowed to move the ball by kicking or using their trunks; and 2) These huge pachyderms cannot laze around and block the goals.  

 

The game is played between two teams with each team having two or three elephants.  Each elephant is mounted by two riders, the polo player and a mahout. A mahout is a person who acts like an elephant translator — the player tells him what moves to make and he communicates this to the elephant.

 

Elephant polo is an internationally recognized sport under the auspices of the World Elephant Polo Association, which was established in 1982 in Nepal. Annual tournaments are mounted thrice a year participated in by countries such as those from Southeast Asia, Australia, Britain, Germany, Hong Kong, and the current world champion, Scotland.

 

Aside from the players, mahouts, and referees, dung collectors are considered to be just as important. They patiently wait at the sidelines armed with their ‘gadgets,’ ready to clean up the mess. It would not be nice to lose due to a mound of Dung left carelessly in the field.

45. Extreme ironing

Necessity is said to be the mother of invention. This was taken to heart by Phil Shaw in 1997 when he wanted to do some rock climbing and have a set of neatly pressed clothes at the same time. The solution is to multitask by ironing clothes while rock climbing! Thus, the sport of extreme ironing was born. 

 

There emerged countless variations of Shaw’s original rock climbing-ironing tandem. This sport is in fact so flexible that others did it in different ways such as on a canoe, while underwater, in the middle of the street or even while parachuting. 

 

This is a perfect example of extreme sports merging with the performing arts. This also led to the creation of two supporting groups: the Extreme Ironing International and the German Extreme Ironing Section. Competitions are held almost annually to determine the best of the best when it comes to extreme.  

 

Critics are, however, quick to dismiss this as a fad and go as far as saying that this can not be regarded as a sport.  

 

No matter what the naysayers are saying, this extreme sport’s supporters are growing steadily. It helps too that they have been subjected to video coverage and featured in such prestigious shows such as the National Geographic Channel.   

 

A world record was even created by seventy-two divers who simultaneously ironed clothes while they were underwater. This is placed in the Guinness Book of World Records under the most number of people ironing underwater.