Feature: Pancake Tuesday, time for most quirky race

Millions of Britons are today enjoying a feast of pancakes, on what is called Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day.

But in one quaint English township, the celebration signalled one of the world's most quirky races, a tradition which began 500 years ago when a busy housewife sped through the streets of the township, and has continued to this day.

In the market town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, there's a lot at stake on Pancake Tuesday.

Women of the town competed in a race through the streets, carrying a frying pan and tossing pancakes as they headed for the finishing line.

Twenty-five women raced from the town's market place to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, a distance of 380 meters.

The race takes a mere sixty seconds, but then comes an agonizing wait. A sister race takes place in the U.S. town of Liberal, Kansas over a similar distance, and both towns compete to have the fastest time. However, because of the time difference, the scores aren't released until Tuesday evening.

Last year, Olney resident Devon Byrne was the victor, storming home - with her pancake - at a record breaking 55.61 seconds, eight seconds quicker than the fastest competitor over in Liberal, Kansas. As it was the third win in succession for Byrne, she was not allowed to race this year. Instead she headed over to Kansas to watch the race in Liberal town.

It all started in 1445 when an Olney housewife, busy cooking pancakes, heard the toll of the church bell to summon villagers to a service marking the start of the Christian religious festival Lent.

Determined to get to the church on time, the housewife sped off to the church dressed in her kitchen apron and headscarf, clutching her frying pan, and tossing the pancake to prevent it from burning.

So today, the all-female line-up wears headscarves and aprons, just as the village housewife did more than five centuries ago.

The quirky race has put Olney on the international map, and hundreds lined the streets of the small town to cheer on this year's runners.

Plenty of pancakes were cooked throughout the day to feed the visitors and there are contests, such as pancake tossing, as well as separate pancake races for children from the local schools.

Olney town councillor Tony Evans described the pancake race as quintessentially English, and something that has put the small market town on the global map.

Evans told Xinhua: "It was revived at the end of World War Two by the Rector of the Church and has been raced every year since, though it dates back to 1445. Because of our narrow streets, we have to restrict the race to 25 of our ladies. We attract a lot of visitors lining the streets on our pancake race day."

The famous pancake race is not the only thing to put Olney on the map. The township was the home of clergyman John Newton. As well as being a slave trader turned abolitionist, he wrote Amazing Grace, one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world, performed an estimated 10 million times a year. Endit