Special Event

Rub-a-dub-dub, Hot Springs holds races in tubs

Audience participation with cheers, water balloons and water guns are a big part of Stueart Pennington’s World Championship Running of the Tubs in downtown Hot Springs.
Audience participation with cheers, water balloons and water guns are a big part of Stueart Pennington’s World Championship Running of the Tubs in downtown Hot Springs.

When early 20th-century visitors came to Hot Springs to "take the waters," they generally weren't doing it in the middle of the street. And the water wasn't being shot out of a Super Soaker.

But at the annual Running of the Tubs, in which teams race decorated bathtubs on wheels down Bathhouse Row, everybody gets wet.

Stueart Pennington’s World Championship Running of the Tubs

Judging: 6 p.m. Friday, Hill Wheatley Plaza, 629 Central Ave., Hot Springs

Races: 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Central Avenue, downtown Hot Springs, with awards, music and activities following

Admission: Free

(501) 321-2027

hotsprings.org

"It is a very wet event," says Bill Solleder, director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs.

The races started with a brainstorm on the part of longtime business owner Stueart Pennington.

"He always had great ideas to try to attract more people to downtown," Solleder says.

But when he suggested a tub race, "Everyone thought he was a little crazy."

After he passed away in September 2005, community members revisited the idea and decided it was a "pretty dang good" one, a way to honor Pennington's memory while also drawing more visitors.

The races began as the Stueart Pennington Running of the Tubs in 2006 and have continued every year since. Now, organizers are working hard to expand the event.

Solleder did some research and the Hot Springs race was the only consistent, wheeled tub race he could find, so they felt confident in renaming the event Stueart Pennington's World Championship Running of the Tubs.

The rebranding had an immediate impact, drawing the attention of ESPN Radio, which this year will cover the races for the first time.

Preliminaries start Friday with the ceremonial bracket assignment at 3 p.m. at Bathhouse Soapery. Starting at 5 p.m., tubs will assemble in Hill Wheatley Plaza for the Judging of the Tubs, which begins at 6 p.m. The tub teams are themed. Last year saw a Scooby-Doo team, a superhero team and a tribute to magician Maxwell Blade. This year, the Austin Weirdos of Texas are expected to race in a Willy Wonka-themed tub.

But the main event is Saturday, beginning at "9 a.m. sharp" with the tub parade from the Gangster Museum to the starting line outside the Arlington Hotel.

The first race is the very serious, highly competitive Battle of the Badge -- a single sprinting tub race between the Hot Springs Fire Department and the Hot Springs Police Department.

"Last year for what I believe was the first year, the police department beat the fire department," Solleder says. "The fire department has been trash talking for weeks."

Then things get crazy.

The tub teams are divided into two big categories: traditional (for cast iron tubs) and modified (plastic or fiberglass). Then they're broken down into three heats. When it's their turn, the teams race down Bathhouse Row, stopped every 100 yards or so by white-robed judges who instruct them to perform tasks like a sponge toss or "ring around the tubs." The winners of the heats then do battle in the traditional and modified championship races.

But it's not that simple, because the spectators aren't just there to cheer for their favorite teams. They come "armed" with water guns and wagon loads of filled water balloons to shoot and throw at the racers.

"Expect to get wet," Solleder says.

In years past, when the various races ended about 11 a.m., that was it. This year, organizers are turning it into a full day. After awards like Most Spirited and Most Original and the coveted Pennington Cups have been distributed, the music starts in Hill Wheatley Plaza.

Kicking things off will be Oh Mercy, a band that includes Jim Pennington, brother of Stueart, and will continue with more bands until sundown. For children, there will be bounce houses and an inflatable obstacle course.

For first-timers, Solleder recommends getting there early, since people are usually lining up at the curb around 8 a.m. And come prepared: "You'd be amazed how many people actually come pulling wagons loaded with water balloons."

Overall, expect a wild and wacky time.

"There's nothing like it," Solleder says. "When you say 'Running of the Tubs,' it's a silly idea, but I can't tell you how much joy it brings people to be racing and to be participating. It's just fun ... good, old, wet fun."

Weekend on 05/31/2018

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