In a tradition that is said to go back to 1445 in Olney, England. Each Shrove Tuesday, women in the Buckinghamshire town run 415 yards carrying a pan with a pancake. Women who take part must wear an apron, a headscarf, and flip their pancakes at the start and after finishing. In 1950, the town of Liberal, Kansas decided to put on its own pancake race, which makes today International Pancake Day. And of course, Shrove Tuesday.
Runners in England and Kansas run the same distance, and a similar course shaped like the number five.
Liberal came out on top today, as it has 34 of the last 60 times. Wichita State student and Liberal resident Tasha Gallegos ran a record-setting 57.9 seconds. Over in Olney, Jane Hughes set an English Pancake Day record, crossing at the finish line, while flipping, at 62 seconds.
The Great Plains town makes the most of the event, it has turned the race into a four day festival.
But it almost didn't happen this year. A McPherson, Kansas company that has been donating dough for the pancakes wasn't able to do so this year. But a late donation of $500 saved the day.
Related posts:
Dodge City, Beef Kingdom
Liberal: Kansas' second Beef Kingdom
Garden City, Kansas' third Beef Kingdom
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