Hot Springs’ World Championship Running of the Tubs bathtub races will be featured on nationwide television in July when the PBS program “Wild Travels” showcases the fun-filled competition.
“I’ve seen a little preview of the program, and it really captures the spirit of outrageous fun that the Running of the Tubs has brought to Hot Springs for 17 years now,” Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said.
“We’ve already signed up five teams for this year’s 18th Running, including the Austin Weirdos team from Texas. And we’ve got the Bathhouse Soapery and Caldarium on board as our corporate sponsor.” Solleder said the “Wild Travels” team was in town to film the 2021 races, and the segment includes exciting footage of cameras following individual teams down the length of historic Bathhouse Row on Central Avenue.
“They were able to incorporate all the funny little rules that make the races so much fun,” Solleder said, “including the ‘fire drills’ in the middle of the race where all the team members have to run a lap around their tubs before proceeding.
Solleder said the schedule for the broadcast hasn’t been announced yet, but that a preview of the segment is available at https://youtu.be/qgiQJ77WK7c.
The bathtub races will be held Saturday, June 1, on World Famous Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs.
The weekend of hilarious fun starts Friday evening, May 31, with the Judging of the Tubs in Hill Wheatley Plaza at the southern end of Bathhouse Row. The races will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 1, from the starting line in front of the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa at the north end of the famed bathhouses along Central.
The Running of the Tubs is named in honor of the late Hot Springs businessman Stueart Pennington, who advocated tirelessly for the establishment of bathtub races to emphasize Hot Springs’ reputation as a thermal bathing mecca.
“While there is a long list of rules, these rules change slightly every year based on the judges’ whim, which makes the outcome of every race surprising and exciting,” Visit Hot Springs Special Events Manager Alexis Hampo said. “You never know who is going to win The World Championship Running of the Tubs.”
Prizes are awarded in six categories: Traditional, Modified, Stock, Most Spirited, Most Original, and Best Overall. The Traditional division is open to cast iron bathtubs. The Modified division is open to plastic or fiberglass tubs. The Stock division is open to nonprofits, religious, and governmental organizations. Visit Hot Springs provides free tubs to those entrants.
The Judging of the Tubs and the Running of the Tubs is free for spectators. For information contact Alexis Hampo at 501-321-2027.
