The age-old tradition of the Running of the Bulls stampeded through the Highland neighborhood Saturday morning, but with a twist — roller skates and whiffle bats instead of bulls.
About 200 people were chased by the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls roller derby team down 32nd Avenue in a fundraiser for the Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado Christian Home.
The inaugural run was put on by a nonprofit group, the Highland Bulls, based on a similar event in New Orleans. Event organizers estimate $4,000 was raised for the treatment center for abused and neglected children.
For people like Lee Trujillo, who have always wanted to run with the bulls but couldn’t make the trip to Pamplona, Spain, this was an entertaining substitute.
“It’s a crazy idea,” he said, “but I had to do it.”
Spectator Bryce Ballew found it all “hysterically funny.”
“You have roller derby queens chasing people with bats and foam noodles,” he said.
Runners donned the traditional all-white outfits with red sashes as they dashed down the downhill 1K course.
“The runners are at a complete disadvantage here,” Ballew said. “In Spain, the bulls will just keep running. Here, they can turn around and whack you again.”
Runner Ashley Schirmer said one of the Rollergirls did exactly that.
“I got hit a few times. One of the girls hit me, turned around and whacked me again,” she said.
Barbie Robles, known on the track as “Barbie Boop,” said she lost count of how many runners she’d tagged after number 20.
“The steepness of the hill distracted me,” Robles said.
Fellow skater Vanessa Bates, a.k.a. “Cat A. Combs,” agreed that the starting slope gave the runners a bit of an advantage.
“The hill was terrifying. I got the roller coaster butterfly feeling in my stomach,” she said.
Once the skaters caught up, the majority of runners were tagged.
“The girls knew their audience. They didn’t hit the kids as hard as the adults, and they were going after the guys, especially the two in Speedos,” Highland Bulls president Niles Emerick said.
The Rollergirls try and do as many outreach events as they can, spokeswoman PJ Shields said. When Emerick reached out to the team, there was a lot of excitement, she said.
“We are used to hitting things,” Rollergirl Melissa Rice said.
The idea to host the event was hatched over drinks at a local restaurant after a friend told Emerick about the New Orleans event.
Sitting at El Camino in Highland, Emerick and friends realized one of their favorite waitresses was a Rollergirl, and the pieces fell into place.
“We wanted a way to promote philanthropy in the neighborhood and bring awareness to the Tennyson Center,” Emerick said.
Caitlin Gibbons: 303-954-1638 or cgibbons@denverpost.com
