Olney Pancake Race runs for 569th year

Olney Pancake race tradition went off in Olney, United Kingdom on Tuesday.

The race, which is traditionally ran by women carrying frying pans and wearing aprons, originated in 1445 when a woman lost track of time baking pancakes when she heard the church bells ringing. She raced through town to church in time to make the service, so the folklore goes.

Women racing must flip their pancake once at the start and again at the finish line. The event gets off at 11:55 a.m. and is followed by a church service. Other towns in the United Kingdom have taken up the tradition and the events have become popular.

The tradition has been handed down in the town for almost 600 years and is run each year on what Canadian’s know as Pancake Tuesday.

Olney now also holds the tradition of racing for the fastest time over the 380m route with Liberal, Kan., in the United States. Liberal has also run their own event for 65 years and have been racing to beat Olney since then.

Liberal has won more years with 36 wins to Olney’s 27, although there was one year where they couldn’t know who won because a BBC van was blocking the finish line in Olney.