SHROVE
TUESDAY
LEADER &TIMES
Sydney Mathews sings,“I Know You Won’t” Monday during the Pancake Day Talent Show. Mathews took third. SEE RESULTS ON PAGE 6A. L&T photo/Chris Linenbroker
TUESDAY
February 12, 2013 Vol . 1122 6Pa•gIesss . 2 5 7
SERVING THE HOME OF LIBERAL RACE WINNER CAITLIN DEMAREST
$1
WORLD RECORD DEMAREST 64.3 seconds
SMASHED FLAT
BYRNE 56.0 seconds
Byrne blazes to world best time of 56 seconds
Demarest finishes first in Liberal By LARRY PHILLIPS • Leader &Times Small but numerous snow flakes drifted slowly downward with not much wind disturbing their journey as Liberal Mayor Tim Long raised his arm with starter pistol in hand. Fifteen women (two honorary racers) leaned forward as if against an invisible rope, taunt with anticipation for the 64th running of the International Pancake Day Race. Each wondered if she had what it takes to win the Liberal leg of the race against the women of Olney, England. And could she beat Olney’s speedster, Devon Byrne, who captured the international crown last year?
Boom. Bolting off the line, the women headed north on Kansas Avenue and the first turn of the 415-yard course, with several of the women bunching up at the first right-hand turn. Leading was Caitlin Demarest, followed closely by an honorary racer and a large crowd right on both their heels. As the leaders approached the second turn onto Lincoln Avenue, Demarest maintained her lead and the field was shuffling behind her, with Rene Boaldin moving into second about five yards off Demarest’s pace. About halfway down the final stretch, Boaldin made a run, but could only gain about two to three yards, as Demarest hit
Avila wins pacer race Alejandro Avila finishes about two strides ahead of Tyson McGuire in the men’s pacer race prior to the International Pancake Race earlier today.The two finished in the same order a year ago. L&T photo/Earl Watt
© 2013 SEWARD COUNTY PUBLISHING LLC
her finishing gear. Behind Boaldin, last year’s champ, Kaela Krueger, moved into third as Demarest crossed the line first, followed by Boaldin and Krueger. Media surrounded Demarest, 27, an assistant women’s basketball coach at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School. Then the top three stepped onto the winner’s stand, and race official Al Shank announced Demarest ran the course in 64.3 seconds, which fell short of the international title. Olney’s Byrne, 19, finished her race six hours earlier in the day with a shattering
N See RACE/Page 3A
Liberal’s Caitlin Demarest prepares to cross the tape to win Liberal’s leg of the International Pancake Race in a time of 64.3 seconds. Her time was nearly eight seconds behind Olney’s Devon Byrne who completed the course in 56 seconds to set a new world record earlier in England. L&T photo/Earl Watt
Byrne wins 2nd straight First place finisher 19-year-old Devon Byrne from Olney, leads the field en route to winning the annual Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race in a record time of 56 seconds, in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England. 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, flipping it at the beginning and end of the race.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 in 1950 after seeing photos of the race in a magazine to a frinedly internaitonal competition. The sister cities have run the race for 64 consecutive years. AP Photo/Matt Dunham Liberal’s James Hamel takes a bite of his pancake this morning during the Pancake Breakfast at the Seward County Activity Center. Thousands of pancakes flew off the Kiwanis griddle and onto plates along with sausage and orange juice. L&T photo/Earl Watt