Underdog Cambridge beats Oxford to win 156th Boat Race on River Thames

Cambridge beats Oxford to win 156th Boat Race

LONDON — Cambridge overtook favored Oxford late in the race to win the 156th Boat Race by 1½ lengths and stop the Dark Blues from winning for the third year in a row.

Despite losing the toss and having the disadvantage of a long mid-race bend on Saturday, Cambridge won the annual 4¼ mile race along the River Thames in London. It leads Oxford 80-75 — with one dead heat — in a race first staged in 1829.

Oxford had won four of the previous five races.