7 Kilometres of Hell - #HORR2015

Hughes Hall M1
Bruce, Andrew, Luke, Salvator, Han Wei, Pavel, Jason, JP and Jen

The Head of the River Race is one of the biggest rowing races in the UK.  7 kilometers along the Thames Tideway between Mortlake and Putney.  It is the same course the Oxford/Cambridge teams will row later in April.  This year 345 crews took part.

Luke and his crew from Hughes Hall have been training rather intensely since the end of February in preparation for this race.  They were on the water 4-5 times per week (sometimes twice a day) and in the gym on the ergo machines at least 3 nights a week.

In Cambridge it's hard to row 7k.  Most of the races on the River Cam are 2k or shorter.  And rowing on the Tideway is very different from our narrow little river.  There were hopes that they would be able to do a practice run in the morning before the race.  Unfortunately that didn't happen - but they did great anyway.

The past two years the race has been cancelled due to poor conditions.  And again, this year the conditions were less than ideal - 20-25mph winds with gusts at higher speeds, rain, cold, choppy water.  But they went ahead with the race and (as far as I know) everyone made it through safely.

On Friday before the race, the guys dismantled the boat - taking off the riggers and the seats and separating the boat in half - in order to put it on the trailer.

We set off from Cambridge early on Sunday morning to head to Putney Town Boathouse on the southwest side of London.  Two of the guys rode with the Kings College boatman and the boat and once everyone arrived at the boathouse we went to the task of putting the boat back together.

One benefit of the River Cam is that you can stay dry during the process of getting the boat in and out of the water.  The Thames is not so nice and requires you to get into the water.  I would recommend a pair of wellies because the river is not so clean.

Where the guys put the boat in was right near the start of the race, so they didn't have far to go - at first.  So once they were in the boat and their boots were taken back up to the trestles, I set off for Hammersmith Bridge where I could watch them as they came under at the 4.5k point.

The Hughes boat was number 291 of 345 - so it took them a while to come through.  Fortunately JP's girlfriend lives in London and came down to watch as well so we were able to keep each other company.  We waited in the wind and rain for a couple of hours.  We were miserable - but not as miserable as the guys who were sitting in the boat all that time just waiting until they could start.  But, we got to watch lots of boats come through.

City of Cambridge Rowing Club M2 Boat

And I got to see our friend Pete Gurry on his way back up the river after his crew was finished.

And then the guys finally came past.  I cheered loud - although I'm not sure that they heard me.  And I was able to get at least one good photo.

The tough thing about rowing as a spectator sport is that you only see a very small segment of the race.  So I wasn't able to see them finish.  Instead, Kate and I started our 5k walk back to the Putney Town Boathouse so that we would be there when the guys got back.  Yep - that's right - once they finished their all out 7k race, they had to row 7k - against the wind and the current - back to the boathouse.  Poor guys.  Fortunately Luke had made chocolate chip cookies the day before while I was rowing so they had a treat waiting for them when they got back.

And then it was time to get the boat out of the water and take it apart again so that it could go back to Cambridge.  Fortunately that didn't take too long and we rewarded ourselves with a nice meal.

Overall - amazing experience - but really tough.  Here's to hoping that next year's conditions will be much better!

Love you and miss you!
Aubs, Luke & Luther