04/06/2026
5 sleeps to race day! Here is the full schedule of AOTV's River Rat Race Coverage.
When to Watch!
Friday, April 10th at 7PM is the Friday Night Position Drawing, live from Athol Town Hall
RACE DAY - Saturday, April 11th
7:00 AM - A special Shining Lights with Bonnie Benjamin with the Athol Area YMCA on the 2026 Big Cheese 5K !
7:30 AM - Rewatch the Friday Night Drawing
9:30 AM - We're LIVE at the River Rat Parade sponsored by the North Quabbin Chamber and Visitors Bureau and the Athol Area YMCA 2026 Big Cheese 5K!
10:30 AM - A new interview with Jerry Whaland from Billy Goat Boats on boat making and River Rat Race history!
11:00 AM - Dave Flint, in memoriam video
1:00 PM - Live coverage of the Athol Orange River Rat Race!
5:00 PM - Live coverage of the River Rat Race awards ceremony.
Where to Watch!
As always, you can tune in to AOTV on Spectrum Channel 1301. If you have a Roku or Apple TV or a smart phone, install the Cablecast app and search Athol to find our live broadcast on your device. The stream is also live on aotv13.org
You can listen to race commentary on WVAO 105.9 FM on your radio, or download the RadioRethink app and search WVAO, or go to https://radiorethink.com/listen/wvao/
BIG NEWS!
We are pleased to announce a number of Western Massachusetts public access stations will be picking up the AOTV broadcast to bring the River Rat Race to other communities and hopefully inspire some new racers and race fans.
Bernardston / Northfield - Channel 1072
Erving - Channel 15 - Bernardston Northfield Community Television
Falls Cable - Channel 9 - Falls Cable TV
South Hadley - Channel 15 - South Hadley Community Television - SHCTV
Northampton - Channel 12 - Northampton Open Media
Montague - Channel 9 - Montague Community Television
(Keep an eye out, this list may grow!)
Special thanks to the The Athol Lions Club for putting together this amazing event every year and allowing us to be a part. Thanks to Frontier Community Access Television for volunteering time, equipment, and experience to the broadcast this year. Thank you to LearningTimes for lending us equipment, and Northampton Open Media for lending us access to Restream. Thank you to our amazing volunteers who will bring the race to your home!
Thank you of course to our generous sponsors for making our broadcast possible.
Sapphire Sponsors
Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company
LifePath
Emerald Sponsors
Athol Savings Bank A Division of Cornerstone Bank — Athol Spirits — bankHometown — Big Daddy's RV Sales & Service — Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts — Cornerstone Insurance — Landry Plumbing & Heating — Quabbin Valley Plumbing & Heating — Whipps Inc
Ruby Sponsors
Billy Goat Boats — Edward Jones — Greenfield Northampton Cooperative Bank — Hamshaw Lumber — Kimball-Cooke Insurance — North Quabbin Citizens Advocacy
