American Wins Trans-Atlantic Pancake Race

LIBERAL, Kan. - Jill Wettstein won the American leg of a trans-Atlantic pancake race Tuesday in a time just fast enough to edge out the winning English runner, giving the United States its seventh straight victory.

Wettstein, 25, finished the 415-yard run in 67.38 seconds. Earlier, British winner Andrea Rawlings ran the course at Olney, England, 50 miles northwest of London, in 69 seconds.

Wettstein, a medical technologist who runs every day and lifts weights, finished third at Liberal last year. Cheri Bevis, the winner in Liberal the last two years, didn't compete this year. A year ago she finished in 60.6 seconds, beating Rawlings' time by nearly five seconds.

Julie Sumner, 29, a preschool assistant director, was second this year and Jennifer Hyde, 28, a teacher, was third. Brooke Buchman, who finished second last year, fell about 100 yards from finish line.

Each town holds the race at 11:55 a.m. local time, meaning the American race is run almost six hours after the English winner has been decided.

Rawlings was the fastest in a field of 26 apron-clad contestants between ages 20 and 73, who ran from the Olney market place to the local church while carrying a pancake in a frying pan.

The women are required to flip their pancakes before the start of the race and at the end to prove they haven't dropped the pancakes.

The 1:09 time clocked by Rawlings, a 31-year-old mother and local saddler, was four seconds slower than her winning time last year.

Shrove Tuesday, widely known in Britain as Pancake Day, was traditionally the last day for merrymaking before the start of Lent. Pancakes were thought to be a good way to consume the fat the Christian faithful were supposed to forego during the period of fasting.

Legend has it that the Olney race started in 1445 when a harassed housewife, rushing to be on time for church, arrived at the service still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it.

Liberal, in southwest Kansas, challenged Olney to a friendly trans-Atlantic competition in 1950 after seeing a picture of the race in Time magazine.

History of Pancake Day

Our 56th year! Is seems impossible that the friendly little competition between Liberal and Olney, England, with women running down the streets of each town flipping pancakes, has lasted so long. It is still the only race of its kind on the planet.

But on Shrove Tuesday this year at 11:55 a.m., the race goes on again, with the overall score standing at 28 wins for Liberal and 24 for Olney. In 1980 the score didn't count, because a media truck blocked the finish line in Olney.

It all started in 1950 from a magazine picture of the Olney women racing each other to the church. Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete contacted the Rev. Ronald Collins, Vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul's church in Olney, challenging their women to race against women of Liberal. The Vicar replied, "The Race is On!"

Rev. Collins explained that the race was an over 500-year-old tradition, dating back to 1445. A woman engrossed in using up cooking fats (forbidden during Lent) was making pancakes. Hearing the church bells ring calling everyone to the shriving service, she grabbed her head scarf (required in church) and ran to the church, skillet and pancake in hand and still apron-clad. In following years, neighbors got into the act and it became a race to see who could reach the church first and collect a "Kiss of Peace" from the verger (bell-ringer), along with the blessing: "The Peace of the Lord be Always With You." The kiss is still the traditional prize in both races.

Following the centuries-old tradition, rules were laid out and the first race held February 21, 1950. A runner must flip her pancake at the starting signal, and again after crossing the finish line, to prove she still has her pancake

Winning scores have traded back and forth between the two towns. The record time was set in 2001 when three- time race winner Lisa Spillman ran the 415 yard S-shaped course in 58.1 seconds. Prior to this, the record was 58.5 seconds set by Liberal's Sheila Turner in 1975. That record was also shared with Liberal's Christina Wilbers in 1997, and Olney's Natalie Thomas in 1998.

Some women run to win, others just to compete in the famous race that receives worldwide media coverage.

Just about everyone in Liberal is involved in some way with Pancake Day. Civic clubs sponsor events during the 4-day celebration that has grown up around the race. Spectators come from all over the nation, and from other Countries. State and national dignitaries are always present

A Pancake Day History book has been published, and we now have a chronological account of the event since it started. If you come from the east or west, you'll pass the monument mark-ing the starting line of the race a lasting symbol of the spirit of goodwill and friendship between Liberal and Olney . . . which remains the real reason for the Pancake Day celebration. Join us!

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