Cave Creek gets green light for 'Running of the Bulls' event

CAVE CREEK, AZ - You've seen it before: Hundreds of people running through the streets of Spain chased by bulls. Now, we can soon see it happen in the Valley.

According the the promoter of an event modeled after those in Spain, "Running of the Bulls" will soon play out just north of Phoenix in the town of Cave Creek.

"We're full steam ahead. Nothing is going to be in the way. Now it's a matter of getting the property all set up, to finalize our exhibitors and signing up runners," said organizer Phil Immordino.

Immordino is no stranger to this type of bull-running event.

He put on similar, marginally successful events about 10 years ago.

He tells ABC15 that this year, the event's popularity will skyrocket despite the hardships of putting it on.

"It's not easy. Everyone is worried about liability. Everyone is worried about insurance, and it's not an easy thing to get done," he said.

Initially, the town of Cave Creek signed off to be part of the running with the bulls, but then the council insisted Immordino acquire additional insurance.

The permit for the event was eventually rescinded, but the permit got reissued Monday when the town was cleared from all liability.

"Bottom line is, the city wanted no liability. So this is a special event on private property. The town is not obligated or implicated on anything," Immordino said.

Right now, only about 100 people have signed up for the event, which is set to take place in mid-October.

People we spoke with were intrigued by the idea.

"Oh yeah, I would do that in a heartbeat," Gene Kampe said.

"I would like to see it go on. I would love to come out here and run with them," Jennifer Folz said.

For more information, check out www.runwiththebullsusa.com.