Deadline Is May 1 for Entries in the Second Annual ‘Stueart Pennington Running Of The Tubs' Bathtub Race Scheduled May 12 on Bathhouse Row In Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas 

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas – Tuesday, May 1, is the deadline for entries in the Second Annual Stueart Pennington Running Of The Tubs
(ROTT) bathtub race scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, May 12, on Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.

The race is named in honor of the late Stueart Pennington, a longtime leader in Hot Springs business and civic activities.

Entries for the race will be $25 per five-person team and are due by 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 1, at the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.
All entry fees will be donated to the Downtown Merchants Christmas Tree Fund, according to Steve Arrison, executive director of the CVB.

"The Running Of The Tubs was one of the most fun-filled events we had in the city during 2006, and the 2007 race promises to be even more hilarious," Arrison said.

"The whole point of the bathtub races is to bring everybody together in downtown Hot Springs for a family event that provides a great time while showcasing our beautiful historic district and Bathhouse Row," he said.
"All of us in the tourism business know that the thermal waters are one of our most important attractions, and The Running Of The Tubs is a great way for us to remind people of that resource while entertaining our visitors at the same time."

Scott McClard, chairman of the city's Advertising and Promotion Commission, said, "The Running Of The Tubs is a hilarious way for people to enjoy a reminder that Hot Springs' motto once was ‘We Bathe The World.'"

The race is loaded with funny rules and regulations designed to increase the wacky atmosphere that surrounds the event, McClard said. He reminded contestants that the rules are subject to sudden and unannounced changes, "maybe even after the race starts."

Arrison said. "Tubs must be real bathtubs, at least 48 inches long and
24 inches wide. They can be ‘standard' or ‘modified.'"

He said that the "death penalty" rule would remain in effect for this year's ROTT. That rule specifies that any team member who argues with one of the judges "will be barred from bathing on Central Avenue forever, or until another Arkansan is elected president of the United States of America."

Among the many other arbitrary and complicated rules for The Running Of The Tubs, that will be implemented "ruthlessly" by The Running Of The Tubs Committee (ROTTC) are these:

• The Running Of The Tubs will consist of five-member teams pushing bathtubs – on wheels of course – the length of Bathhouse Row in Historic Downtown Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. Any team that wants to push a tub without wheels may apply for a special "moron waiver,"
Arrison said.

• Any bathtub may be entered, provided it is no smaller than four feet long and two feet wide.

• The wheels on the tub must be no bigger than 30 inches diameter and mounted on axles no more than 44 inches wide. No coasters or casters will be allowed.

• No motors or mechanical devices can be used to push the tub. Four members of the team must power the tub, which will contain the fifth member, plus water.

• Of the four members pushing the tub, one must carry a large bar of soap, one must carry a nice bath mat, one must wear a loofah mitt and one must carry a bath towel.

• The fifth member of the team must be in the bathtub, taking 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 crossing the finish line must still have in their possession the bar of soap, the bathmat, the loofah mitt, and the bath towel 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 left in the tub the team will be disqualified.

Arrison said the race will start in the middle of Central Avenue at the north end of Bathhouse Row and finish in the middle of Central Avenue at the southern end of Bathhouse Row.

"We have all sorts of rules for this event," Arrison said. "I have probably left some out, but here are a few more:"

• All team members must be 18 or older.

• The four team members pushing the tubs must wear hats of some type and shape and also some suspenders.

• Anything goes, including water balloons, costumes and race strategies.

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.

For more information or an entry form, visit www.hotsprings.org, call the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, 501-321-2027 or go to the CVB offices at 134 Convention Boulevard.

April 30, 2007   Posted in: United States South