PAMPLONA, Spain (REUTERS) - Four people were hospitalised on Monday on the first day of Spain's San Fermin bull run, a daily race through the narrow, cobbled streets of Pamplona that forms part of the northern city's week-long festival.

One runner was gored in the thigh while the other three suffered fractures during the race against five bulls which lasted 2 minutes and 25 seconds, according to the Red Cross.

The bull run at San Fermin - made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his novel "The Sun Also Rises" - is one of hundreds in Spain every year and attracts large numbers of foreign visitors.

Runners dress in white with red neckerchiefs and many spectators stay up drinking all night in bars beforehand.

The Pamplona run takes place at 8am every morning for one week in July.