The champion Hot Springs Police Department team powers its tub across the finish line in first place in the 2017 Running Of The Tubs.
Seventeen teams will compete June 2 in the Stueart Pennington’s World Championship Running Of The Tubs bathtub races along Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs. It will be the 13th annual Running Of The Tubs and the first time with the World Championship at stake. The races will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio.
In addition, there will be a full day of associated activities in Hill Wheatley Plaza following the races, according to Bill Solleder, director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs, which sponsors the ROTT along with presenting sponsor Bathhouse Soapery. The teams will compete for the Stueart Pennington Cup, named for the late Hot Springs businessman who conceived the idea of the races more than 13 years ago.
“We’re adding a full day of games, activities, food and live music at the Tubs Party in Hill Wheatley Plaza immediately after the races are completed and the awards are handed out,” Solleder said. “It is a significant expansion of The Running Of The Tubs in conjunction with our expansion of the races’ scope into the World Championship.”
On Friday, June 1, starting at 5 p.m., the competing tubs will be set up in Hill Wheatley Plaza, 629 Central, for the annual Judging of the Tubs at 6 p.m.
Race day, June 2, begins at 9 a.m. by the highly anticipated annual Battle of the Badge head-to-head competition between the defending champion Hot Springs Police Department tub and the Hot Springs Fire Department. The Battle of the Badge is a nonstop mad dash by the two tub teams starting at the Arlington Hotel at the north end of Bathhouse Row and ending at The Gangster Museum, 510 Central.
Immediately after the settling of this grudge match, the official Running Of The Tubs will take place, starting at the Arlington. The awards presentation begins at 11 a.m. in Hill Wheatley Plaza, followed at noon by the newly inaugurated Tubs Party in the same location. “The Tubs Party will have food trucks, bouncy houses, a climbing wall, cold beer and live music until the sun goes down,” Solleder said. “Admission is free and it’s all open to the public.”
The live music lineup will include:
• Noon — Oh Mercy, featuring Stueart Pennington’s brother, Jim
• 2 p.m. — Dazz & Brie, a funk/R&B group from Little Rock
• 4 p.m. — Couch Jackets, an indie rock band from Hot Springs
• 6 p.m. — Shilpa Ray, an indie rock band from Brooklyn, N.Y.
“The races were begun 13 years ago as the Stueart Pennington Running Of The Tubs, and Mr. Pennington will still be honored as the motivating force behind the event with the awarding of the Stueart Pennington Cup to the winning teams,” Solleder said “Mr. Pennington was a long-time downtown merchant who pushed for the bathtub races to acknowledge Hot Springs’ rich history as a world-renowned thermal-bathing destination.”
For more information, contact Bill Solleder, 501-321-2027.
