A woman from Liberal, Kansas is this year’s champion of the Traditional Pancake Day Race against women in Olney, England. Whitney Hay won the U. S. leg of the race yesterday with a time of 1:07. That beat Katie Godof of Olney, England, who ran her race in 1:10. Hay, a 21 year old college student, also won the Liberal race in 2020, but lost to Olney. Contestants must carry a pancake in a frying pan and flip it at the beginning and end of the 415 yard race.
The event started in 1445 in Olney, England, when a woman was making pancakes to use her cooking fats before Lent. While making the pancakes, she heard the church bells ringing for the Shriving Service. She ran 415 yards to the church, skillet and pancake in hand. In the following years, it bacame a race as neighbors joined in to see who could make it to the church first to collect a Kiss of Peace from the bell ringer. It was brought to Liberal in 1950 when a magazine showed a picture of Olney women racing to church. Liberal Jaycee President, J. J. Leete contacted the Vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in Olney, Reverend Ronald Collins, challenging their women to race against the women of Liberal. The prize of the race in Liberal is also a Kiss of Peace from the bell ringer.
