DATE: May 8, 2026
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — A full month before the June 6 event, the full lineup is complete for the 2026 World Championship Running of the Tubs bathtub races through historic downtown Hot Springs.
“We have reached the full limit of competing tubs for this year’s Running,” Visit Hot Springs Special Events Manager Alexis Hampo said. “We’re limited in the number of races Central Avenue can accommodate, and this year we topped out a full month ahead of time.
“We’ve got 26 tubs entered, and that’s about as many as we can squeeze in. This means the 2026 Running of the Tubs championship will be a humdinger.”
This year’s lineup:
Traditional:
- Visit Hot Springs – Hot Springs Bathers
- Oaklawn – Oaklawn Elite
- National Park College – The NPPC Do Gooders and Be Gooders
- National Park Medical Center – Yabba Dabba Doo for National Park Medical Center
- Pafford Medical Service – Pafford Bathbulance Peeps
- Riser Ford – Riser Ford
- The Waters Hotel – Sandlot Squad
- Garvan Woodland Gardens – Gardeners Gone WILD(flower)
Modified:
- Hot Springs Fire Department
- Hot Springs Police Department
- National Park College – Molten Mayhem (National Park College Welding Students)
- Hollywood Feed – Delivery Dogs
- U.S. Army Recruiting – ARMY
- PRIDE Hot Springs – Flamin’ Olympians
- Hamstra Party of 5 – The Quack Pack
- Oaklawn – Oaklawn Elite
- Bath Fitter – Tubby and the Permafits
- R.E.A.s and a C.E. – This Ain’t Rocket Science
- Garland County Sheriff’s Office – Garland County Sheriff’s Office
- Reynolds Consumer Products – Rolling with Reynolds
- CGI (Consultants to Government Industry) Federal – Arkansas Passport Center – SS Passport
- Elevation Physical Therapy – Elevation Physical Therapy
- Hot Springs National Park Employees – Founding Bathers
- The Mountain Valley Spring Water – The Spring Water Sprinters
- Bath Planet
Stock
- Sun Bum / NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) – Sun Bum’s Smells Like Summer Tub
- Oaklawn Chapel – Oaklawn Elite
- Wake Makers – Spring Lake Camp
- Arkansas Spa Pacers – Arkansas Spa Pacers
The officially named Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs is described as the World’s Wettest Competition on Four Wheels.
The races feature costumed competitors pushing regulation bathtubs on wheels the length of World Famous Bathhouse Row in the historic downtown district of America’s Spa.
The water-soaked races feature divisions for Traditional (cast iron), Modified (plastic or fiberglass), Stock, for nonprofit organizations (tub provided by Visit Hot Springs).
“The Running of the Tubs will take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, and racers have until then to get in shape to push standard-sized bathtubs full of water down the main street of the town that once boasted ‘We Bathe the World,” Hampo said.
The competing tubs will be judged the evening of June 5 at 6 p.m. in the downtown area.
This year’s competition will be the 20th Running since the races began in 2006. No races were held in 2020, the first year of the covid pandemic.
“Hot Springs is proud to boast the most insane competitive sporting event in all of Arkansas or maybe even the world,” Hampo said. “Fans get to watch and even participate from the sidelines as costumed teams push customized bathtubs on wheels past our historic bathhouses in the hopes of winning bigtime glory and even bigger trophies.
“Our sponsors are Presenting Sponsor – Bathhouse Soapery; Obstacle Sponsors – Wrapped Boutique, Bath Planet, Cablelynx Broadband, Riser Ford, and Judging of the Tubs Sponsor – Sun Bum. Our event is free, family friendly, and the cleanest fun on Earth. Fans soak the racers — and often themselves — with water-soakers as the tubs go past.”
She continued, “Last year seemed like it might have been the wettest competition on record, but I have a feeling 2026 competition will be one for the books.
Tubs teams can register for this year’s race at runningofthetubs.org.
The races have drawn national attention as teams dress in wacky costumes to push regulation-sized bathtubs full of water and a driver through the historic downtown district of America’s Spa.
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.
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.
There is also the traditional Battle of the Badge, which pits teams from the Hot Springs Fire Department, the Garland County Sheriff’s Office and the Hot Springs Police Department against each other in a “grudge match.”
All teams consist of five members, with four pushing the tub and one member steering. Tubs must be at least 48 inches long and 24 inches wide. The wheels on the tub cannot exceed 30 inches in diameter mounted on axles, and may not exceed 44 inches wide. Costumes are required.
For information contact Alexis Hampo at 501-321-2027.