All race reports for Kimberley Green
Event: Women's Head of the River Race 2009 - Novice VIIIs
Posted as: Kimberley
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This was a great race to end the term with. A very exciting start to the day - 300 crews seemingly turning up all at once with endless trailers driving up and down the bank and blades being stacked everywhere, and a pretty manic rush to get the boat into the river and push off for the start. Didn't really compare with any of the Cam races I've experienced before! After a lot of waiting around and concentration from bow 4 to keep the boat in a vague queue we were able to row up to the beginning of the race, inspired by the 'elite' crews who were already racing. We seemed to get into a good rhythm from the start, and it was a nice encouragement to overtake Exeter from Oxford and a Durham crew fairly early on. Stroke side coped really well with a blade clash with Durham and we continued at a steady rate for the rest of the race, overtaking 2 more crews if I remember correctly... Seemed to go really quickly after the halfway point of Hammersmith Bridge - in fact most of us at the end were quite surprised how short the race felt!! Was great to hear Mark call that we were closing the gap on Churchill and Downing at times, even though ultimately we didn't catch up with them. But finished knowing we had rowed really well as a crew - it felt very much in time and balanced despite rougher water than we were used to - and was good to see how far the gap between us and the boat behind us stretched!
Praise God for such a great first off-Cam race, and for the opportunity I've had to row with such a lovely, enthusiastic crew!
