Pancake Day Race to return to Wallingford this year

Wallingford's Pancake Day Race is back, and set to take place on Shrove Tuesday, March 4, in Market Place.

The time-honoured tradition has been taking place at the end of winter every year for as long as many townspeople can remember - and no one quite knows how it began. 

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John Houston, of Wallingford, took over organising the race 16 years ago when the club that originally put it on it ran out of steam.

He said: "We're not really sure how long it's been going, but we definitely think now its one of the oldest and biggest in the country.

"We can track it back about 45 or 50 years, but we’re sure it’s been going on before that.

"I have no idea how it started – it’s been going on so long that it just feels like forever."

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Participants can turn up on the day with nothing but a frying pan to take part, as pancakes are provided, and fancy dress is encouraged.

The race is a short loop around Market Place with the added requirement of a pancake flip at the start line. 

Apart from a four-year obligatory break during the Covid-19 pandemic, the race has been run every year by kids and adults, extended to include local schools when Mr Houston took over. 

Six or seven races will be run by children as young as five years old, all of whom will win a prize for participating, and then the adult race begins, with the alluring prize of the golden frying pan. 

The Wallingford Pancake Day Race 2024 (Image: Ed Nix) "It can get quite competitive," Mr Houston said. "Some people are desperate for the golden frying pan, but really people just want to come out and have a bit of fun and raise some money for good causes."

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The adult competition is a five-minute race, during which time racers will lap the course as many times as they can, tossing their pancake every time they pass the invigilator at the start line.  

The 2024 Wallingford Pancake Day Race winner with the golden frying pan prize (Image: Ed Nix) Whoever is in the lead after the five minutes are up will win the coveted pan, which they hold onto for a year, and have their name etched into a plaque. 

Sponsors of the event, like Rowse Honey and some local businesses in Wallingford also contribute towards a wine and gift hamper for the fastest racer. 

This year's race is dedicated to Ivy Small, of Wallingford, who died this year aged 91, who was a regular at the Pancake Day Race. 

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Mr Houston said: "She's been running every year since we don't know when - she ran every single race, every one of them in the most amazing fancy dress, up to her 90th year.

"This will be the first year she won't be there, so we'll miss her this year and we're dedicating this race to her memory. 

"She was a stalwart of the Pancake Race."