Foot of the Charles

The last race of head race season in Boston is The Foot of the Charles regatta. The course runs from MIT's boathouse to Harvard's, a slightly shorter distance than most head races. In terms of participation, it's much smaller than the Head of the Charles, with only college teams showing up to race in it.

MIT's lightweight men put out four boats: three freshman eights and a varsity four. I was in the second eight. We raced against Brown, Harvard, and Boston University, among others, all of which also put out several boats.

Because our boathouse was the starting line, all our boats had to be on the water before any of the races started. We wouldn't be able to launch once people started rowing past without interrupting the other races.

Typically, eights are the last event of any regatta and the Foot was no exception. So we dutifully showed up three hours before race time, clad in only racing spandex and a hat, got in our boats, and went out onto the water. Now, it's cold in Boston in November but it's even colder on the water, in the wind, wearing next to nothing, paddling around for hours on end.

Once the race started we warmed up quickly and were at full steam in no time. Despite the boat being composed half of walk on rowers - who's only experience in a boat had been at MIT - we focused and had the best row that line up had ever seen.

I'm second from the bow

After the dust settled and the results were out, we had done really well. Our first eight was the fastest light weight boat overall, beating Harvard's first squad. My boat, the second eight, came in third, beating Harvard's second, third, and fourth eights.

That was the last time on the water for the Fall season. Everything until March will be indoors: lifting, erging, and running.