Madrid , Spain ( CNN ) -- Hundreds of runners braved their luck Wednesday on the first day of the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona -- but just two men , an Australian and a Spaniard , were taken to hospital afterward with injuries , the Navarra regional government said . It was considered a thrilling but safe start to the annual tradition in Pamplona , which has tallied 14 deaths since record-keeping began in 1924 , including the fatal goring of a Spanish man last year , and thousands of injuries . The run in Pamplona started 400 years ago and became popular worldwide after author Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in the 1920s in his book `` The Sun Also Rises , '' also published under the title `` Fiesta . '' It is now broadcast live across Spain by state television TVE , which estimated there were more than a thousand runners . An 18-year-old Australian man from Melbourne was taken to hospital with various injuries sustained on the narrow street that descends into the bullring . And a Spanish man , 20 , from Zaragoza also went to hospital with an eye injury sustained on a street almost halfway through the run , the Navarra regional government said on its website . Both were initially listed in stable condition but under close observation , the website said . It took the six bulls and a pack of tame steers , which help guide the bulls , a full 17 seconds to emerge from the corrals after the opening rocket was fired to signal the start of the run . But the pack then moved swiftly through the cobblestone streets of old Pamplona along the 825-meter ( 902-yard ) course to the bullring , where the bulls will die later in the day in a bullfight . The run lasted just 2 minutes and 23 seconds and the bull and steer pack stayed mainly together , which long-time observers say usually means a safer run -- unlike when a bull or bulls get separated , frightened and may charge directly into the runners . Television images showed mostly men dressed in the traditional white outfits with red handkerchiefs , but also a small number of women , and even one man with a football helmet , which is prohibited but was apparently not noticed by the hundreds of police officers who eject , before the run , people carrying cameras or who are drunk . The aim is safety , so that runners can focus on the run . Television images showed numerous runners making hard falls to the pavement , tripping over other runners or colliding with the bulls . The daily run continues for eight days , through July 14 , at 8 a.m. ( 2 a.m . ET ) , and is the highlight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona that attracts hundreds of thousands to the non-stop fiesta .
1 Austrialian , 1 Spaniard taken to hospital . Run lasts 2 minutes 23 seconds . TV images show many runners making hard falls . Daily run continues until July 14 .