The tubs roll at 9 a.m. Saturday in downtown Hot Springs. What happens after that is anybody's guess -- but usually, it's a whole lot of fun.
The annual Stueart Pennington's World Championship Running Of The Tubs will welcome 24 teams, 12 of which are new, representing three states, and will have a few new features.
For the first time in the event's history, the races will be timed and Bill Solleder, director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs, said that's being done for two reasons.
"One, I'm just curious," he said. "Then the other reason is for the stock tubs -- we've built two stock tubs, and there are six teams because we added the Rotary (Clubs). We have Oaklawn Rotary and Hot Springs National Park Rotary are now facing each other. So we have an issue. Now we have two tubs and three winners, so the top two times will go to the finals.
"Also with the traditional division, we have so many tubs this year and we have to sort of keep our time on Bathhouse Row to a minimum, Riser (Ford) gets the bye and it will go down to sort of the same thing. There's four finalists, really, yet the top three will only get to race in the championship. So that's where this comes in."
Visit Hot Springs announced this week that stock tub heats would be added to the event as a way to provide a competition bathtub for teams from schools, nonprofits and other groups that might lack the expertise to outfit a competition-ready tub for the races. As of Thursday, both Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club and Oaklawn Rotary Club signed up to compete in the stock tub heats, bringing the total to six teams in the category. Previously, four entries were signed up including The Friends of the National Park, named Friends of Hot Springs Team; the Garland County Library entry called the Grapes of Bath Team; the Spa City Pacers; and T.A.C.O. (Trail Advocacy Coalition of the Ouachitas), whose entry is Team Taco. T.A.C.O. is the new Central Arkansas chapter of the International Mountain Biking Association.
"I've been wanting to do (stock tubs) for several years, but have just been trying to find an angle in," Solleder said. "So this year, I had the ability to make tubs, but then I had to see if I had any interest. I just started reaching out to the nonprofit world and the schools to see if anybody had any interest so my goal was if I could get four teams, then we could do it. And we got six.
"Some people just don't have the ability to make these tubs so we made these for them. They're just mini mobile home tubs. They're very small, they're very shallow and very light. With stock tubs, it makes the races more accessible and I think if we have more teams, we'll have more people coming out. Last year was a pretty decent turnout -- biggest one we've ever seen. Hopefully it will be even bigger this Saturday."
Solleder said Dryden Pottery has created a trophy for the stock tub races.
"They made a custom one-of-a-kind tub out of their clay, and glazed it white," he said. "It has the classic Dryden signature on the bottom and that will be our trophy, which I hope will be passed around from year to year."
As of Thursday, the weather forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s or 80s during race time.
"It might even be a little chilly for those poor people sitting in the tub waiting for the fire department to fill them up," Solleder said.
While onlookers are encouraged to toss underhand water balloons and douse the teams with water as they make their way down Bathhouse Row, Solleder said safety of those in attendance is always a concern.
"We bring in about a dozen ushers that line Central Avenue; (safety) is a concern of mine," he said. "I think the more safe we are, the more fun we're going to have. But it's their job and the judges' jobs to keep an eye on the sideline and keep people off the street.
"Oftentimes people get excited and want to get their water balloon that didn't pop. It's kind of like a parade, they want to grab their candy or beads, but they need to mind the action in front of them and I think parents need to mind their kids, too. Our staff does a great job of keeping people off the street."
The annual awards ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Hill Wheatley Plaza. This year's judges will be Steve Arrison, Leysa Lowery, Paul Lynch, Brian Leonard, Tammy Clampet, Marianne Chartrand, Mary Zunick, Clyde Covington, Robert Zunick, Maxwell Blade, Davis Tillman, Don Gooch, Charlene Simon, Justin Simon, Ed Davis and Bobby Graham.
Local on 05/31/2019