First-ever Running of the Tubs Website Provides Registration, Fun and Background Information For 2026 World Championship Bathtub Races in Hot Springs
DATE: March 2, 2026
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — For the first time ever, the World Championship Running of the Tubs bathtub races in Hot Springs have their own website.
Visitors to www.runningofthetubs.org will find a colorful website full of animation, video, photography, history and a registration form for the 20th edition of the World’s Wettest Competition on Four Wheels. That’s the Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs in which costumed competitors push regulation bathtubs on wheels the length of World Famous Bathhouse Row in the historic downtown district of America’s Spa.
“Finally, Running of the Tubs has a website,” said Bill Solleder, the marketing director of Visit Hot Springs, which created and organizes the annual salute to the city’s history as the town that once proclaimed We Bathe The World. “The Running of the Tubs website, designed by Aaron Buckley at Sixty One Celsius, is almost as fun, colorful and energetic as the race itself.”
Solleder said the first-ever Tubs website features animation, video, photography,
online registration, a history of downtown merchant Stueart Pennington’s connection to the event and a frequently-asked-questions segment.
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,” VHS Special Events Manager Alexis 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.
“Presented by Bathhouse Soapery and Caldarium, 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.
“If I had any advice for the competitors this year, I would say to start training early. The judges will be coming out with their robes ready and their water blasters loaded.”
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.