May 21, 2025
Believe it or not, nine new five-person teams have signed up to push actual bathtubs full of water down World Famous Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs on June 7 in the 19th edition of the World Championship Running of the Tubs bathtub races.
“These newcomers are primed for the races,” said Alexis Hampo, special events manager for Visit Hot Springs. “They’ll join 18 other teams to push for glory in the World’s Wettest Four-wheel Vehicle Competition.
“We’ve got a full slate of 27 teams this year, and the competition is going to be fierce. Between the tubs full of water and thousands of fans lining the course showering the competitors with water blasters, we guarantee that folks are going to get wetter than anyone this side of the snorkelers on the Great Barrier Reef.”
Teams compete in three divisions: Traditional, for actual cast-iron bathtubs; Modified for fiberglass tubs, and Stock, for nonprofit organizations which receive tubs supplied by the race organizers.
New teams this year include:
Traditional : National Park College – The NPC Do Gooders and Be Gooders.
Modified: Garland County Sheriff’s Office; Bath Planet of Arkansas; Reynolds Consumer Products; Arkansas Passport Center – Rub-a-Dub Passport Tub; PRIDE Hot Springs, Hosted by Emergent Arts – Suds & Sass.
Stock: The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt (Auditor of State) – Find Your Booty (Claimitar.gov); Spring Lake Camp and Retreat – God Squad, and Spring Lake Camp & Retreat – Jesus Freaks.
They’ll get soaked competing against these returning teams:
Traditional: Spa Pacers (returning 2024 champions); Twisted Fork Grill & Lounge – Twisted Gangstas; Visit Hot Springs – Hot Springs Bathers; National Park Medical Center – Sponge Bob Square Pants; The Waters Hotel – Shake and Bake; OReilly Auto Parts – Tub O’Charms, and Riser.
Modified: Austin Weirdos – The If you Can Dodge A Wrench Tub (returning 2024 champions); Oaklawn – Oaklawn Elite; Arkansas State University Three Rivers – ASUTR Eagles; Hot Springs Police Department; Hot Springs Fire Department – Water Boys; US Army – Army Recruiters; Hot Springs National Park employees – Lord of the Springs; Paschal Air, Plumbing and Electric – Leak Squad, and Arlington Hotel and Spa.
Stock: Oaklawn Chapel and Princess Nora’s Warrior Foundation – Fishers-Of-Men (returning 2024 champions).
“The Austin Weirdos are more excited than ever to return the 480 miles from the capital of Texas with the trophy and defend our title,” said team member Brett Beeler. “As the original and longest running out-of-state team, we come back every year for the wackiness, the competition and the unmatched local hospitality. There’s no event in the world like the Running of the Tubs and we are proud to be part of it.”
Crystal Kennedy of the Spa Pacers said, “There’s nothing quite like racing a bathtub full of water down Central Avenue. Only in Hot Springs can you turn a bubble bath into a competitive sport. It’s wild, wacky and the most fun you will have in a tub with your clothes on. I can’t wait to hopefully steer my team to another big win this year.”
“We’re the Fishers of Men—hooked on speed, soaked in spirit and baptized by bathtub water,” said John Monroe of Princess Nora’s Warrior Foundation. “We don’t just run tubs … we part puddles.”
Each team must consist of five members: a captain, who must ride in the tub; a Bath Towel Attendant, a Bath Mat Attendant, a Soap Attendant and Loofah Mitt Attendant. The bath towel, bar of soap, loofah mitt and bath mat must still be in possession of the team members at the finish line. Added this year is a requirement that each tub must also carry a Hot Springs quartz crystal, a container of Hot Springs water, a stamp from Hot Springs National Park and some flamingo food.
The 19th edition of the Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs is presented by Bathhouse Soapery and Caldarium, whose owner, Charlene Simon, will start each race with the starters pistol. Other sponsors are Wrapped Gift Boutique, Resort TV Cable, the Diamond Lakes Travel Association, Riser Ford and Bath Planet (obstacle sponsors).
The bathtub races bring thousands of fun-loving spectators to downtown Hot Springs to watch as costumed teams push customized bathtubs on wheels down Bathhouse Row in hopes of winning glory and a big ol’ trophy. Fans soak the racers — and often themselves — with water-soakers as the tubs go past. The races are free, family friendly and the cleanest fun in America, Hampo said.
The Running of the Tubs started in 2006, and this will be the 19th Running. (No races were held in 2020 because of the covid epidemic.)
The competing teams’ decorated tubs will be judged in downtown Hot Springs at 6 p.m. June 6, in the Judging of the Tubs celebration.
“The World Championship Running of the Tubs is such a fun, goofy and equally competitive event,” Hampo said. “I love seeing competitors and spectators alike get really invested in the spirit of friendly competition.
“If you come to watch the fun, make sure you grab your bathrobes, rubber ducks and water blasters to join in on all the sideline fun.”
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, which once had as its slogan “We Bathe The World.”
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.
“The Running of the Tubs is another of the great family-friendly celebrations that are so popular with our residents and visitors,” Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said. “The crowds lining Bathhouse Row and joining in the wacky fun by shooting Super Soakers at the racers have been growing every year as word spreads about this super free event.”
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 and the Hot Springs Police Department against each other in a “grudge match.”
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.