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50th Head Of The Charles Regatta Underway

The Head of the Charles regatta — the world's largest two-day rowing event — celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Eleven-thousand athletes participated in the three-mile-long upstream race on Saturday and Sunday.

Half a century ago, Harvard University sculling instructor Ernest Arlett proposed a race to Cambridge Boat Club members D'Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent who saw the idea to fruition, according to the race's organizers. They decided to call it the "Head of the Charles," with the title referring to the honorary name given to the winner of each race.

Duxbury-native Will Miller is a Northeastern alumni and 2012 Olympian participating this year. He says the length of the race and nature of the course make it challenging.

"There's wind, there's bridges, you're going around bends, the wind is changing," Miller said. "There's a lot going on out there, there's crowds, there's other boats out there, you're passing them. It's always a wild card."

Here's a look at some of photos shared from around the area on the first day of races:

Related:

With reporting from WBUR's Kassandra Sundt. 

This article was originally published on October 18, 2014.

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