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With Tulsa’s Great Raft Race less than two weeks away, we thought we would head down to the Arkansas River to see how preparations were coming along.

There, we hopped on a raft and visited with Seth Erkenbeck, the race’s executive director, and Daniel Regan, who, with Erkenbeck and a handful of other volunteers, brought the race back to life three years ago.

From 1973 through 1991, the raft race was one of the city’s most popular events. According to the Tulsa Raft Race website, at its peak the event drew 600 rafts, 4,500 racers, and 150,000 spectators.

We're live with Daniel Regan and Seth Erckenbeck talking about Tulsa's Great Raft Race. Thanks to Mod's Coffee & Crepes for the raft. Posted by The Frontier on Friday, August 11, 2017

The new incarnation of the race, like the old one, runs from Sand Springs to River West Festival Park in Tulsa and is held on Labor Day.

This year’s race will have a bunch of new activities, including a sand castle competition, helicopter rides and a raft race kickoff party on Friday, Aug. 18, at Fuel 66, 2439 E. 11th St.

And although the heart and soul of the Great Raft Race is the quirky and colorful rafts people come up with, a great raft is not a requirement to participate. This year the public can rent rafts.

So there is no excuse for folks interested in spending Labor Day floating down the Arkansas River.

The registration deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 15. To register, and for more information, go to tulsaraftrace.com.