By Hazel

April 5th, 2010

Best of Blighty: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Best of Blighty: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race


There are some things that are just very British. Royal Ascot, allegations of us having warm beer (I’m not getting into any debate here, I will leave that to our in-house CAMRA specialist), and the Oxford / Cambridge Boat Race.

Yesterday was the 156th Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, with the finish line right before Chiswick Bridge, just down the road from Prompt’s London offices. It was more exciting than it looks on the photo, honest.

Oxford’s Dark Blues, the presumed favorite for this year’s race, were beaten by the Cambridge team (the Light Blues) for the 80th time (Oxford trails in the all-time standings, with 75 victories).

A quintessentially English, the Boat Race started back in 1829. This year an estimated 300,000 people crammed along four miles of the Thames from the starting line in Putney to the finish line in Mortlake. Heavyweight eights (boats with eight rowers) represent their universities, going through grueling training regiments whilst continuing their studies. No money for the rowers: it’s all about good old-fashioned pride, glory and rivalry.

Pure competition, of course, is not the only draw for Londoners. The start of spring plays as much a role in the race’s allure as the spirit and theatre of amateur athletics, with cherry blossoms and revellers lining the Thames. Oh, and there are some great pubs as well….

So London has its day at the races, a celebration of all things British. We come out in droves for athletes who don’t earn millions of pounds a season and enjoy our time by the river.

As far as finishing lines close to Prompt offices, it’s Prompt Boston’s turn next.

Posted in Blog | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Best of Blighty: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race”

  1. Dave Wilby says:
    April 12, 2010 at 10:30 am

    I think that bait was left for me!

    Our beer is generally served at exactly the right temperature, thank you very much (around 54-57°F or 12-14°C), but most pubs in Ye Olde England also have those new-fangled refrigerating devices these days, and will be able to rustle you up a freezing cold bottle of Bud if you're aching for that taste of the colonies… :)

    As for the Boat Race being 'quintessentially English', did you know that only six of the 18 rowers in this year's race had British passports?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/rowing/7543961/Oxford-and-Cambridge-Boat-Race-takes-on-an-international-feel.html

  2. Hazel says:
    April 14, 2010 at 11:51 am

    I'll leave the beer comments to the US team after they've measured the temperature of their beers (it's topical – there's been a lot of debates about Sam Adams seasons going on in Boston).

    I didn't realise that about the boat race, very international. Next you'll be telling me there's Hungarians and Latvians in the QPR squad….

  3. Vicki says:
    April 16, 2010 at 4:47 pm

    To be honest I don't recall the beer being particularly warm in London, even those that were on tap.

    And *everyone* knows beer, Bud or otherwise, is best served ice cold =P

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