Anyone been to the Oxford Cambridge boat race?

[morningglorystorye]

Always wanted to go, is it worth it? Do you have to buy tickets? I tried to Google but couldn’t really find anything.

Anyone can go but if you want a really good view then you either get there v early or pay for one of the exclusive viewing places, as far as I recall. It's a long time since I've been!

There'll be guides online and in the papers as to the best places to watch from, the route, etc.

As with any longish race you only get to see a minute or so (depending whether you're near a bend in the river) of course.

I’ve watched it go by from one of the river pubs. Obviously they fill up pretty fast but not so hard to nab a spot outside a bit before.

No you don't need tickets, you just head for the Thames and stand anywhere that's public land.

It's a lot of hanging round for very brief action!

Fun if you're in a group, and if you've either got an invitation to one of the boathouses that line the bank at Barnes and Putney, or are near some sort of food/drink seller. You need to be v early for the pub!

IIRC they stop pedestrians going over footbridges whilst the races are on (risk of sabotage by dropping things onto or near the boats) so plan accordingly.

I went when I was a first year. (Over 20 years ago.)

It was a bit shit to be honest. Wait around for hours, about 20 seconds of watching the rowing, then trying to find someone with a radio so you could find out who won.

Also completely manic and we were unable to find all our friends who we had arranged to meet.

Suspect it will be better now as you can watch the rest of the race on your phone. And call your friends and figure out where they are.

Fun if you're in a group, and if you've either got an invitation to one of the boathouses that line the bank at Barnes and Putney, or are near some sort of food/drink seller. You need to be v early for the pub!

An ex BF of mine was a member of a rowing club in Putney, so I had the privilege of watching the boat race from the club many years ago. We also went to Henley regatta later that year. We had a couple of stewards badges between our group and used to swap them around so that we could drink Pimms in the Leander marquee.

It was a different world to mine.