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But few people know that another varsity battle, just as keenly fought, takes place weeks later at another of this country’s great events, the Virgin Money London Marathon.
For the tenth successive year, teams from Oxford and Cambridge will toe the Start Line in Greenwich hoping to earn their university the bragging rights.
“I think the boat race is on another level, but in the running communities at the two universities, the rivalry is most certainly there,” says Kate Niehaus, the American captain of the 2016 Oxford University team.
“We always want to perform well against Oxford,” says David Pell, the Cambridge captain this year.
Both universities have a rich history in athletics and marathon running.
Cambridge counts Chris Brasher, one of the co-founders of the London Marathon, and British Olympic 2012 marathon runner Claire Hallissey among their list of alumni.
Oxford, meanwhile, boasts former London Marathon runner-up Mara Yamauchi on its roll of honour, in addition to Hayley Munn, one of the leading British athletes in the women’s field this year.
Negotiations between the two captains about how to score the race often go on up to race week but it is usually based on the aggregate time of the first five male and female finishers.
Oxford did the double last year but for the previous nine years it was Cambridge that dominated.
“This will be the 10th varsity marathon year. Over the past nine years Cambridge has come out on top but last year Oxford won so this is an extra source of motivation,” Pell says.
Oxford skipper Niehaus, who will be running her last race as a student, is hoping the dark blues remain on top.
“Every year people come in and out of the team,” she explains. “It’s an entirely different team from 12 months ago, so this year it will be a new race, but we hope to do well.”
To add extra motivation, this year will be the first time Oxford offers Full and Half Blue awards to its marathon runners, should they ran fast enough.
This puts marathon running on par with other varsity sports and on equal footing with Cambridge who also offer Blues.
A Blue is an award for athletes competing at the highest level in a varsity match.
Source: Virgin Money London Marathon
