LIBERAL, Kan. (AP) — Without a three-time champion competing, a yearly pancake race between women from England's Olney and a southwestern Kansas town was a griddle riddle until Hannah Belton put that to rest for the Americans. The 24-year-old second-grade teacher and middle-school cross country coach from Liberal, Kansas, won Shrove Tuesday's International Pancake Day Race in her hometown. Olney's Emma Maitland finished six seconds slower. Shrove Tuesday traditionally is the last day for merrymaking before the start of Lent. Pancakes were thought to be a good way for Christians to consume the fat they were supposed to give up during the 40 days before Easter. The run's competitors wear aprons and scarves and run the course with a pancake in their pan, flipping it at the beginning and end of the race.
For more information on the annual International Pancake Day Race, visit www.pancakeday.net.
