Head of the River Race

Head of the River Race
Crews racing under Hammersmith Bridge at HORR 2005
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Championship Course, River Thames in London, England
Years active	1925–1936, 1938–1939, 1946–2003, 2005–2006, 2008–2012, 2014–2016, 2018–2019, 2022–
Previous event	18 March 2023
Next event	23 March 2024
Participants	approximately 340 to 420 crews
Organised by	HoRR Committee, British Rowing [a]
Website	www.horr.co.uk
Latest Head Pennant winning crew: Oxford Brookes University

The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of the River Race and Veterans' Head of the River Race. Its competitors are, with a few experienced junior exceptions, seniors of UK or overseas competitors and it runs with the ebb tide down the 4.25 mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney which hosts the Oxford and Cambridge head-to-head races usually between one and two weeks later.

The race was founded on a much smaller scale, in 1925, by Steve Fairbairn – an influential rower then rowing coach of the early 20th century, who transformed the sport into one involving today's lengthier slides enabling conventional (Fairbairnized) racing shell propulsion.

"My dear boy, you are under a wrong impression. It is not a race, it is merely a means of getting crews to do long rows"

— Steve Fairbairn, founder of the race

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