Entries now being accepted for wacky annual tub races
Entries are now being accepted for a wacky annual competition that pays homage to the city’s rich bathing history — the 12th Annual Stueart Pennington Running Of The Tubs, which will be held June 3 in downtown Hot Springs.
“Arkansas hosts many unique, colorful and wacky events — a Turkey Drop in Yellville, Goat Fest, the World Championship Rotary Tiller Races, World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, cardboard boat races — but there is no event that is soaked in more dripping wet fun than the Stueart Pennington Running Of The Tubs,” Bill Solleder, special events manager for Visit Hot Springs, said in a news release on Monday. Entries will be accepted until May 26. “We’d love to have Central Avenue packed solid from curb to curb with tub racers this year. We already know Central will be packed with the hilarious high jinks that have always accompanied the event, so put together a team, slap some wheels on your tub and come join the fun,” he said.
Prospective tub racers can call Solleder at 501-321-2027 or email him at bsolleder@hotsprings.org. Copies of the entry forms are available at http:// www.hotsprings.org or at the Visit Hot Springs offices in the Hot Springs Convention Center.
The schedule for this year’s Running
Of The Tubs will be as follows:
Friday, June 2
5 p.m. — Exchange Street Paddock Party begins. 6 p.m. — Judging of the tubs begins. 7 p.m. — Music begins. 10 p.m. — Close.
Saturday, June 3
9 a.m. — Parade Of Tubs. 9:30 a.m. — Running Of The Tubs. The race is named in honor of the late Stueart Pennington, a downtown businessman who championed the idea of a bathtub race to celebrate the city’s bathing history.
The race is held each year on Central Avenue, beginning at the north end of Bathhouse Row and finishing near its southern end.
Entries for the race will be $25 per team and are due by 8 a.m. May 26 at the Visit Hot Springs offices. All entry fees will be donated to the Downtown Association Christmas Tree Fund, Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said in the release.
The “rules” for the race are part of the wacky fun. They incorporate arcane standards, including requirements for hats, suspenders, luffa mitts, bath towels and water levels, and are always subject to sudden and unannounced changes, “sometimes even after the race starts,” Arrison noted in the release.
Entries must be actual bathtubs, at least 48 inches long and 24 inches wide, but can be entered in “standard” or “modified” categories.
The wheels on the tub must be no larger than 30 inches in diameter and mounted on axles no more than 44 inches wide. No coasters or casters will be allowed, and no motors or mechanical devices can be used to push the tub. Each team must have five members, with one member in the tub, which is filled with water, and four members pushing the tub.
One team member pushing the tub must carry a large bar of soap, one must carry a “nice bath mat,” one must wear a luffa mitt and one must carry a bath towel.
The fifth team member in the tub must take a bath from the start of the race to the official finish line. Each team member must keep one hand on the tub at all times.
Each team must still have the bar of soap, the bathmat, the luffa mitt, and the bath towel when they cross the finish line, or they will be disqualified.
The bathtub must be full of water at the start of the race and have at least 10 gallons of water left in the tub at the finish line. If the judges find less than 10 gallons of water, the team will be disqualified.
The winning team will receive a traveling winner’s trophy that it will keep until the next year’s race. Individual team members will receive a trophy. Two additional trophies will be given, one for the Most Original Tub and one for the Most Humorous Tub.