Tired of London, Tired of Life - A website about things to do in London

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26 March 2011

Watch the Boat Race

There's only one big ticket event in London this afternoon, with the 157th Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities kicking off at 5pm. They'll be rowing roughly four miles 374 yards, for no particular reason other than they quite like both winning stuff, and their university.


The series has taken place since 12th March 1829, when Cambridge sent a challenge out to the Oxford boys to see who was best at rowing. It's been going more-or-less ever since, and Cambridge go into the 157th event with a series lead of 80 races to 75, so it's still pretty close. No one is quite sure where if and when it will end.

Those who join the 250,000 spectators along the banks of the Thames between Putney and Mortlake should expect to hear plenty of plummy voices and braying laughter, for this is not a working class event. Nevertheless, it's reasonably fun, and with exam season coming up these Oxbridge types won't be allowed to leave the library much at the moment, so you have to let them have their fun when they can.

For more, see http://www.theboatrace.org

^Picture © Magnus D used under Creative Commons^

6 comments:

  1. Oh, so lovely to imagine being there. We've had a late winter snow storm this week in Toronto and it's -10 C right now (with no grass showing), and that's with the sun shining!

    A few more weeks until spring comes here methinks. Hope everyone who goes enjoys it.

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  2. Did you get to it? I think all of London was at the protest today.

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  3. Heh. I spent most of the day trying to avoid the riots. Are you not an Oxbridge type then?

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  4. No, I went to a sensible university where we had enough time and space to relax a bit.

    I have friends who went to Oxford and Cambridge and the amount of time they spend studying there sounds a bit too much like having a full time job to me!

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  5. And Mo, I didn't get down this year, nor to the protests.

    My parents were in town and we were exploring places with SE postcodes...

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  6. Oh, and Jenny. Toronto is brilliant though, and summer will come soon. Sometimes I feel like a failure for not responding to comments sooner!

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