With the 18th installment of the Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs less than two months away, Visit Hot Springs has announced the annual event will be featured on the PBS program "Wild Travels."
Camera crews were in the Spa City to film the 2021 event, spending several days gathering information and filming clips on the race, the Buckstaff Bath House and Tiny Town, which will also be featured in an episode of the show.
"We look for high-energy, offbeat festivals with public participation," Harvey Moshman, the show's executive producer, said via email. "As far as I could tell, everyone had a blast that day. I read a newspaper story on the race years ago (and) added it to our 'Must Do Sometime Soon' file."
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Visit Hot Springs Special Events Manager Alexis Hampo said the crew had some difficulty protecting their equipment due to the weather and the nature of the event.
"I know it was crazy rainy that day," she said of the 15th running of the event on June 5, 2021. "Plus, it's just a very water-based event, so I know they had to get kind of creative on how to film and protect their equipment. So I think they had like wrapped it in trash bags, just to keep it waterproof, but they were really nice. It was great having them here in town for the event, and from what I've seen, the coverage is just fantastic. I think it really shows the heart of the event."
Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said the show captures "the spirit" of the Running of the Tubs.
"What really hit me immediately after he sent the ... segment is that they capture the spirit of the event and explained the spirit," he said. "The only way to do that is to bring someone from the outside in who have no idea what they're getting into, and the host just quizzes people. He's trying to get the information, use the color to make it work, and I think that's the best part about the 'Wild Travels' piece on Running of the Tubs is that we get that outsider's perspective, and they nailed it."
Solleder said while he knew the crew was coming to film the event, he did not know how the segment would end up.
"Actually, I had to warn them to make sure they covered up their equipment because, as we all know, Running of the Tubs is an extremely wet event," he said. "We had talked and coordinated ahead of time. ... I knew when they were coming, I just didn't know exactly what they were going to do. They did a great job. They actually even used John Cooksey to help them with some footage of downtown, too, so they got some locals to help them out to make it work."
The fourth season of "Wild Travels" will be released in July, Moshman said.
"We're in roughly 170 U.S. Markets," he said. "Individual PBS station programmers decide when and how frequently to air 'Wild Travels,' but they'll have it available to be broadcast as many times as they like."
Other segments planned for this season will be on the McMenamins UFO Festival in Oregon, the Vent Haven International Ventriloquist Convention in Kentucky and Midwest FurFest in Chicago. Other festivals highlighted by the show included Frozen Dead Guy Days in Colorado, Sputnikfest in Wisconsin and the Mooning of the Amtrak in California.
One of the things Solleder liked best about the segment was the wittiness and comedy of the locals.
"Everybody they interviewed, which are mostly all spectators and participants in the tubs races, are so funny," he said. "People in Hot Springs are really funny, and they're just like one-liner after another that's just really, really funny. ... It's great. I love it. It's just such a well-done piece. I can't wait for it to come out."
Sponsors and competitors for this year's event, set for June 1, are already lining up with Bathhouse Soapery and Caldarium as the presenting sponsor, Hampo said.
"A lot of our sponsors from past years have gone ahead and agreed to join us again," she said, noting the Texas-based Austin Weirdos are set to return. "So our presenting sponsor will once again be Bathhouse Soapery, which I think that brand really just fits with the event. We've also got -- as obstacle sponsors, you've got Wrapped Boutique. We've got Riser Ford as an obstacle sponsor. We've also got Cablelynx as a sponsor, and then I believe ESPN will be joining us again."
The event consists of three divisions: traditional, modified and stock tub.
"You've got the traditional, which is cast iron tubs. You've got the modified, which is fiberglass or plastic tubs. And then you've got the stock division, which is for government entities, nonprofits or religious organizations, and so we actually provide those two bathtubs for the teams to race in," Hampo said. "So if they don't have the equipment to build their own tub, we kind of take that hurdle away, and we provide the bathtub, so more people can participate."
While the plans for the challenges are still being finalized, she said there could be an additional stop this year.
"We've got a couple of things up our sleeves for this year," she said. "We've been considering possibly adding a new obstacle, so instead of three stops, there would be four. But that's not confirmed yet. It's just something we've been discussing. So I think there's going to be a lot of really exciting updates and changes and adjustments to this year's run."
A preview of the segment can be found at https://youtu.be/qgiQJ77WK7c.
Visit Hot Springs Special Events Manager Alexis Hampo discusses the 18th installment of the Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs, set for June 1. (The Sentinel-Record/Lance Brownfield)
Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder discusses how the Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs will be featured on "Wild Travels" on PBS in July. (The Sentinel-Record/Lance Brownfield)