Brothers Have a Gory Run-In With the Bulls

July 15, 2009— -- At first glance, Sean and Mike Lenahan seem like pretty typical, all-American brothers. Mike is a 26-year-old sales executive for General Mills, and older brother Sean is a recent business school graduate.

But only a handful of people in history have experienced what happened to this pair in Pamplona, Spain. In July 2007, the Lenahans decided to run with the bulls at the famous Festival of San Fermin and came perilously close to death.

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Hard as it is for many to fathom, the chance to flirt with death is a huge tourist attraction, drawing thousands every year to Pamplona's narrow, winding streets.

Thousands more come to take part in the widespread revelry of the eight-day festival, which includes food, dancing and copious amounts of wine. "Excitement is in the air," explains Mike.

Each morning of the festival, a herd of enormous bulls, each more than 1,300 pounds, are released from the Santo Domingo bull pen into the narrow, uneven cobblestone streets -- full of razor-sharp twists and turns -- and finish about half a mile later at the Plaza de Toros bull ring.

Every year, many runners are seriously injured; in total, 15 have even died over the years. Most recently, a 27-year-old Spaniard was killed by a bull who gored him in the neck.

The Lenahans almost met the same fate, as they were approaching a notorious area of the course, known ominously as Dead Man's Corner.

Here, the bulls often lose their balance, fall down and get separated from the rest of the pack. They can become disoriented, which makes them more likely to charge at the runners.

Both of these traumatic events have helped to galvanize the bond between the brothers. "I feel like we got closer through that experience," says Sean. "It's nice to know that when something really bad goes down, both of us immediately found one another without really thinking about it. That's a strong connection."

And in case you're wondering, they'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. "I'd like to finish that race," says Sean. And Mike? "For sure."