Page 47 - Phonebox Magazine March 2016

Olney Pancake Race 2016
Lovely Weather Haydn Langley
against 4,000. This was a fantastic event, and thanks must go the headmaster, Mr Glenn Young, and his staff and pupils for being such good sports and showing such fervour.
The raf e prizes for this year’s event were once again of a high standard, and the sponsors and winners (with ticket numbers) are:
1 £500 bicycle from 2Pedalz
James Bex (389)
2 £200 meal voucher The Swan Inn
David Phillipson (1610)
3 Set of non-stick cookware by Te on®
Tracy Reid (1308)
4 Family ticket from MK:Dons
Thelma Shacklady (417)
5 Beauty voucher by Amici Beauty
Andrew Lawrence (349)
6 £50 voucher from Noa Noa of Olney
Dorris Kent (1158)
7 Travel Voucher from Savvi Travel
Joanne Jones (649)
8 Dinner for two at Donzellas
Will Trevitt (503)
9 Fruit basket hamper from Harvest
Katrina Rodden (1230)
10 £100 John Lewis voucher from Noble Kitchens
L Richbell (104)
11 Magnum wine from Stefanie Price Wealth Planning
Chris Shacklady (413)
The race committee would like to thank the following sponsors without whom this event would not take place:
Race main sponsor Francis Jackson Homes and major sponsor Te on®.
Raf e prize donors as listed above.
Runner prizes and nancial contributions from: Afterglow, Allen’s of Olney, Bacchus, Captain Carpet, Co-Operative Store, Cox & Robinson, C.T.Wilson, The Flower Shop, Hillier Hill, J Garrard & Allen, Mandala Health and Beauty, Natwest Bank, Olney Barbers, One Stop, Parrish Family Law, Projector Lifting, Soul Garages Ltd., Tesco Express, The Two Brewers, Valeria C, Woosters.
A big thank you to everyone who helped – all the volunteers who pitched in and helped when needed, and worked tirelessly to make the day a success. A special thank you to the Ousedale students who helped serving the breakfast, cooking pancakes and distributing programmes.
Next year will be a good one, so please mark 28 February 2017 in your diaries for the next pancake race and Shriving service.
After the howling winds of 8 February, we woke to lovely weather on Shrove Tuesday – and the famous Olney Pancake
Race. At one point we thought the marquee in the Market Place would lift off, but it held together for the events taking place on Tuesday morning.
We started the day with something new, a breakfast cooked by celebrity chef Leslie Waters. Leslie has become a regular at the pancake race, and for the rst time cooked breakfast for those lucky enough to get a ticket. The event was well received, so start planning now if you would like a place in 2017. This year also saw the introduction of a pancake recipe competition. Entries were submitted prior to pancake day, and Leslie Waters selected a few to cook on the day and judge. The winners were Viv Evans for her savoury seafood pancake, and Lucy Neath (9AG at Ousedale) for her sweet uffy pancake. Well done to the winners.
VIP guests at the races were our MP Mark Lancaster, the High Sherriff of Buckingham Mrs Francesca Skelton, Mayor of Milton Keynes Cllr. Keith McLean and the Mayoress Mrs Vicki Maclean, Mayor of Olney Cllr. Steve Clark, Ward Councillor Peter Geary and Debbie Brock, and our Rector Revd. Claire Wood.
The children’s races started at 10am, with 159 in attendance from Olney Nursery, Olney Pre-School, Infant Academy, Middle School and Ousedale. Our VIP guests took turns starting the races which were enjoyed by the runners as well as the starters. Despite tears after a fall, resilience won through as a fallen runner returned to the start and ran again to restore honour.
The main race was started at 11.55 – but only after a minor interruption of an ambulance
making its way through the road closure! A rst I am sure, and something that is rather dif cult to plan for. I am happy to report the ambulance got through safely and quickly. A very fast race ensued, with victory going to Lianne Fisher in 55.02 seconds. Olney beat Liberal again this year, narrowing the gap in the international competition. Well done to all the ladies that took part. It is promising to note there was a waiting list of runners this year, numbers no doubt swelled by the various Couch to 5K programmes put on by the Olney Runners last year.
After the race and the sponsor’s prize giving, the runners went into St Peter and St Paul Church for the annual Shriving Service. The guest speaker this year was Revd Canon Andrew Blyth of Holy Trinity Church in Aylesbury. He gave a thought- provoking address about good actions and how common rituals became enshrined in religious ritual, and of our relationship with God.
BBC’s Blue Peter attended the day, lming the children’s races and interviewing four very excited youngsters. (I recall seeing a number of parents enamoured by Barney from Blue Peter, no doubt trying to get a coveted Blue Peter badge.) They did a feature on the pancake race, which is good exposure for Olney.
In the afternoon a pancake ipping competition took place at Olney Middle School. This event was in competition with a school from Liberal, Kansas, who completed their ips last week. The whole school attended the event in the school hall, where rapturous shrieks, cheers and applause greeted the competitors as they did their best to win the coveted Golden Pan award. In the end the Liberal team ipped most pancakes in two minutes, but the total “ ips” of the day went to Olney, with 23,000
March 2016 | Phonebox Magazine 47