Running Of The Bulls 2015: Two Americans And Brit Gored In Bloody Start To Spanish Tradition [PHOTOS]

Two Americans and a British guy run in a bull race … and get gored. It's Day 1 of the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and the event is off to a bloody start.

One man was gored in the chest, another in the back, and a third in the armpit, according to the Independent. Luckily, though, all three are expected to recover from their injuries.

Six bulls and hundreds of people crowded the streets for the first run of the multi-day event, part of the annual San Fermin Festival in the northern Spanish city. In addition to the three gored men, 10 others were hospitalized after the two-minute, 23-second run. Bull runs typically last three to four minutes, so the first event was lightning-fast.

Running Bulls — Runners sprint alongside a Jandilla fighting bull at the entrance to the bullring. Reuters/Vincent West

Runnings Bulls — A runner falls next to a Jandilla fighting bull, right, as another Jandilla bull charges at a runner at the Mercaderes curve during the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival. Reuters/Susana Vera

The course, just over a half-mile long, turns down Pamplona's narrow streets and ends at the bull ring. Originally, the run began as a way to get the bulls from the corral to the ring for bull-fighting displays, but the run took on a life of its own after getting face time in Ernest Hemingway's seminal novel "The Sun Also Rises."

This was the first run of 2015, which will be held eight times over the course of the weeklong festival. The San Fermin fiesta dates to medieval times and features religious celebrations, music, dancing and a lot of drinking.

Not everyone can run with the bulls, the festival warns. It requires quick reflexes and good physical fitness, and still it's a risky undertaking because ... you're outrunning bulls, and they weigh about a ton.