East coasters shine in Running With the Bulls

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

A pair of eastern-born cowboys took home the money from the 15th annual Running with the Bulls at the Strathmore Stampede and Heritage Days.
Both cowboys were fearless in their strategies, but that’s where the similarities stopped.
Evan Melanson won the money Aug. 4 in the first running of the race.
Now a local after relocating to Alberta from the east coast 12 years ago, and more specifically Strathmore four years ago, the 28-year-old hasn’t missed an opportunity to hop into the ring with the bulls. He has competed in the event both days for the past three years.
When Melanson lined up for the first wave of bulls, he looked over and saw fan favourite Eric Hanson decked out in his famous giraffe costume.
Melanson went all out in his costume of choice too, as he dressed up as Sheriff Woody, from the Toy Story franchise.
In the past, Melanson felt like he got robbed by the judges in both of Hanson’s previous wins.
The Strathmore and District Agricultural Society rodeo grounds wasn’t big enough for the both of them, and a showdown of guts took place.
Melanson came out aggressive, hunting down the bulls, picking his spots and making contact in the sloppy conditions with their backside whenever possible.
Of course, the bulls returned the favour multiple times.
In the first wave, Melanson lost his cowboy hat and went to go fetch it when he got rammed. In the second wave, Melanson saw his rival go down with an apparent leg injury, leaving the arena on a stretcher.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. Or in this case, outlast the best.
In the third and final wave, Melanson didn’t hold back. Sifting his way through a crowd to find the final two bulls, he got caught swimming upstream when one of the bulls made a 180-degree turn and flipped the tables on the charging crowd.
“I got hit once in the leg and once in the chest. Getting hit by the bull wasn’t too bad, it was getting slammed to the ground that was the worst part,” said Melanson.
Tom Burke, the Day 2 winner and Sydney, N.S. product, had the same approach as Melanson.
Burke came dressed normally, in his No. 47 fitted shirt, no costume and was more than twice Melanson’s age.
“I said I gotta tag him without holding the fence. I figured that’s what was going to give me the most points,” said the 58-year-old Burke.
After watching Melanson run around on Day 1, Burke and his roommate agreed to sign up for the second running. The only problem was that Burke’s roommate chickened out and is short $1,000.
Burke didn’t hold back either: on the north side of the arena in the second round, he found himself on the wrong side of the bull, twice.
Burke didn’t hold back either: on the north side of the arena in the second round, he found himself on the wrong side of the bull, twice.
“I’m kinda hurting a little bit. I got run over twice there,” said Burke, who has lived in Alberta since 1976. “I’ve been run over by cows lots of times, but never a bull. Cows aren’t as aggressive, but a bull will sometimes turn around and come back at you and drive you into the ground. I was very lucky that he didn’t do that.”
A big, mean black bull was trying to pile-drive Burke into the ground, but the heavy equipment operator used his feet to push off the bull’s head and escape to the side.
While Melanson and Burke only have a few scrapes and bruises, there was no shortage of other carnage on the second day of the bulls.
Contestant No. 10 went airborne and did a full backflip in the air seconds into the first wave.
Former Calgary Stampeder and current Saskatchewan Roughrider defensive lineman Charleston Hughes was more than game for the event, until the end of the first round when he strayed a little too far trying to get his fallen hat: a bull snuck up behind him and rammed him in the backside. After that, Hughes didn’t stray too far from the fences.
A female contestant wearing a police officer hat and the No. 1 bib took the most damage of the weekend. In the second round Aug. 5, she got lambasted by a big black bull and nearly trampled by another spotted one on the south side of the area. Emergency services responded quickly, got her out of danger and whisked her to the hospital by the medical staff on hand.
With more than 70 contestants over both days, both male and female, the Running with the Bulls was another huge success.
For Melanson, who said he was inspired by the 70-year-old Ray Bond to do the Running with the Bulls when he gets to that age, and the many more that enjoyed the race enough to sign up again next year, they only have to wait 51 more weeks to do so.