Pancake Race #WordlessWednesday

My spouse and I had pancakes for breakfast yesterday.  

Something seemed familiar about pancakes on the day before Lent begins, and then I remembered. 

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday.  It was also Pancake Day in Liberal, Kansas.

Years ago, when we lived in Wichita, Kansas, we learned about a pancake race each Shrove Tuesday between Liberal, Kansas (which is about 200 miles from Wichita) and Olney, England. This race is followed closely all over Kansas, including Wichita.  It takes place in both cities.

So how did this tradition start?

In Olney, the tradition is some 600 years old. Making pancakes used up rich ingredients such as butter and eggs forbidden during Lent.  As the legend goes, a woman was making pancakes in 1445 when the church bells rang.  Realizing she was going to be late to church, she ran still holding her frying pan, flipping her pancakes as she went. The next year, the townswomen mocked her with their own pancake runs, but the church vicar thought it was a great idea.  The race became an annual event with women running the race to the church while flipping pancakes. The official race course is 415 yards.

In 1950, someone in Liberal, Kansas saw a magazine article about the race, thought "why not get into the fun?" and contacted the good folks of Olney.  He proposed a friendly pancake competition.  Olney accepted the challenge, and women of the two cities have been competing ever since.  Here is more on the topic.

So far, Liberal has won 43 races, Olney 31, but it's all in fun, right?

Since I didn't take a picture of the pancakes, I'll just post a picture of a pancake mix with local maple syrup I received as a Christmas gift.  But the racers make their pancakes from scratch, not a mix, and here is a recipe.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday