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English town regains Pancake Day Race title from Kansas town

Published: 18:58 EST, 9 February 2016 | Updated: 19:00 EST, 9 February 2016

LIBERAL, Kan. (AP) — Residents of Olney, England, have reclaimed the title in the long-running International Pancake Day Race against competitors from Liberal, Kansas, which involves donning aprons and scarves, sprinting and flipping pancakes.

Olney resident Lianne Fisher won Tuesday with a record time of 55.02 seconds on the 415-yard course that participants run with a pancake in a pan, flipping it at the beginning and end of the race. She beat Liberal's Summer Parsons, who finished in 62.61.

Both towns run the race at 11:55 a.m. local time on Shrove Tuesday — widely known in Britain as Pancake Day — the last day before Lent.

First place finisher Lianne Fisher, right, pulls away from second place finisher Kaisa Larkas, en route to setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds during the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

This year's race marked the 67th year of the competition between the towns, which Liberal leads 37-29. One year's score was disqualified. The previous record was 55.6 set by Olney's Devon Byrne in 2014. Parsons, a physical education teacher at Garfield School in Liberal, won the Liberal leg of the race in 2014 with a time of 63.5 seconds.

Miss Liberal Gaby Amparan was the fastest of 11 Kansas contestants, but her time didn't count because she was an honorary racer.

Olney had 25 women, including honorary entrant Isobel Ager-Righinioti, who is 84, according to Hayley Taylor, a member of the Olney Pancake Race Committee. The Olney race also included a man, Barney Harwood, who ran to represent the BBC's "Blue Peter," a children's show.

In a men's pacer race before the Liberal event, San Francisco Giants rookie second baseman Kelby Tomlinson was the winner. Tomlinson spent two years at Seward County Community College and returns to Kansas in the winter to train.

Legend says the race originated in Olney in 1445 after a housewife who was cooking pancakes heard bells ring and ran to a church still wearing her apron, with skillet and pancake in hand. After Time magazine did a feature on the race in 1950, Liberal challenged Olney to a competition that has carried on since then.

From left, Sally Yates who placed 3rd, Leslie Spikes who placed 2nd and Summer Parsons who placed 1st stand at the winner circle after the international pancake race during international pancake day in downtown Liberal Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (Andrew Whitaker/The Hutchinson News via AP)

Reverend Claire Wood, second left, and competitors cheer on the last place finisher at the finish line of the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Miss Liberal Gaby Amparan finishes first as an honorary race with Summer Parsons right behind her winning the International Pancake Race during International Pancake Day in downtown Liberal, Kan., Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (Andrew Whitaker/The Hutchinson News via AP)

Competitors take part in the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Summer Parsons interviews media after finishing first in the international pancake race during international pancake day in downtown Liberal Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (Andrew Whitaker/The Hutchinson News via AP)

First place finisher Lianne Fisher is congratulated by Reverend Claire Wood as she arrives for the service at the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul after winning and setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds in the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Miss Liberal Gaby Amparan finishes first as an honorary racer in the international pancake race during International Pancake Day in downtown Liberal, Kan., Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (Andrew Whitaker/The Hutchinson News via AP)

First place finisher Lianne Fisher poses for photographs after winning and setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds in the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Summer Parsons stands near the alter while presented with an engraved silver platter during Shrove Tuesday Shriving Service at the First United Methodist Church for international pancake day in downtown Liberal, Kan., Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Parsons was the winner of the Liberal International Pancake Race. (Andrew Whitaker/The Hutchinson News via AP)

Liberal¿s Kelby Tomlinson, right, leads the pack in the men¿ spacer race prior to the International Pancake Race, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Liberal, Kan. Tomlinson, the second baseman for the San?Francisco Giants, won the race for the second consecutive time. (Earl Watt /Leader & Times via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

First place finisher Lianne Fisher, second right, runs level with second place finisher Kaisa Larkas, right, en route to setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds, during the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

First place finisher Lianne Fisher, second right, pulls away from second place finisher Kaisa Larkas, right, en route to setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds during the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

First place finisher Lianne Fisher pulls away from second place finisher Kaisa Larkas, obscured, en route to setting a new course record time of 55.02 seconds during the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Every year women clad in aprons and head scarves from Olney and the city of Liberal, in Kansas, USA, run their respective legs of the race with a pancake in their pan. According to legend, the Olney race started in 1445 when a harried housewife arrived at church on Shrove Tuesday still clutching her frying pan with a pancake in it. Liberal challenged Olney to a friendly international competition in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)