In this age-old English pancake race, ‘you just have to flat out’

OLNEY, England (AP) — Women in matching checkered aprons, headscarves and rainbow running shoes were preparing for the centuries-old Pancake Race in this English town on Tuesday.

They rolled their shoulders together, pointed up their toes and squatted before walking to the starting line – frying pan in hand.

At the word “go” they sprinted through the streets, trying not to drop their pancakes, as they roughly traced the path taken by a troubled housewife in 1445, whom legend has it that she killed her husband on Shrove Tuesday. He heard the church bells signaling the service and took off running with him. Pan.

This tradition has been repeated for centuries – not just in Olney but around England and even in the United States, where a Kansas town copied the idea and has been ahead of its friendly British rivals for 75 years. trying to.

The race is held the day before the beginning of Lent, the Christian period of repentance and sacrifice before Easter. Celebrated as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday in other parts of the world, the name Shrove Tuesday is derived from the English word meaning to ask for forgiveness or to grant absolution.

If there’s a secret recipe to winning races, it probably requires a little skill, a little athleticism, and a little crazy. The competition falls somewhere between local activities like the Great British Bake Off and rough-and-tumble. cheese wheel chase Down Cooper Hill.

Runners must flip the pancake at the start and finish.

The 415-yard (380-metre) sprint itself may have been a form of penance before Lent.

“It’s a terrible distance,” said Kaisa Larkes, 44, a mother of four who captured the Olney title, edging out Eloise Kramer. “You just have to go straight out and then hope you’re not going to fall. …But it’s good fun.”

Later, thousands of miles away, in the liberal town of Kansas, women prepared to take on Olney in their own race.

Two sisters from Kansas, who competed in liberal since childhood, went to Olney this year to see where it all began.

“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” said Amy Thompson, who painted her nails with British and American flags and, of course, pancakes. “We love those weird festival things and we decided to stop talking about it. It’s the 75th anniversary and…this would be the perfect time to come.”

Melly reported from London.

Copyright 2024 The associated Press, All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.