What Liberal is known for
Liberal is a Kansas city of 19,825 people at the 2020 census and the seat of Seward County. It is known for the International Pancake Day race, a footrace it has run against Olney, England, every year since February 21, 1950.
A Kansas town dares an English town
Olney dates its own pancake race to 1445, when a woman is said to have run to church still holding her frying pan, and the Reverend Canon Ronald Collins revived it after the war, with thirteen runners on Shrove Tuesday 1948. In 1950 Liberal Jaycee president R. J. Leete saw a magazine photograph of the Olney race and proposed a transatlantic challenge; Collins replied, “The Race is on!” The first Liberal race ran about 40 days later.
Same distance, same minute, two towns
The race is 415 yards, run at 11:55 a.m. local time in both towns, with the pancake flipped at the start and the finish line. Entrants must be women 18 or older with a local address, in skirt, headscarf and apron. In 2026 Hannah McCarter won the 77th running in 1:03.78, Liberal’s third straight win. Liberal leads the all time series, though Liberal’s and Olney’s own published tallies disagree.
A day built around one race
Liberal officials report February sales tax collections more than $100,000 above the surrounding months, and call Pancake Day the town’s biggest revenue day of the year. As Pancake Day chairman Gary Classen put it, “We’re smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and in a small sense, we’re connected internationally.” The day also includes a community pancake breakfast, youth races, a men’s pacer race, a Shriving service and a parade.
More than pancakes
Liberal also claims Dorothy Gale. A 1907 Kansas farmhouse was moved to the Seward County Coronado Museum grounds in 1981 and rebuilt as a replica of the Wizard of Oz movie house, recognized by the governor as her official home. The Mid America Air Museum, opened in 1987 in a former Beechcraft plant, now holds more than 100 aircraft.
Questions people ask about Liberal
Why does Liberal, Kansas race Olney, England every year?
In 1950 Liberal Jaycee president R. J. Leete saw a magazine photo of Olney's centuries old pancake race and challenged the English town to a rival race. Olney's vicar replied, "The Race is on!" and the two towns have run it every year since.
What are the rules of the International Pancake Day race?
The race is 415 yards, run at 11:55 a.m. local time in both towns, with a pancake flipped at the start and the finish line. Entrants must be women 18 or older, from the local area, wearing a skirt, headscarf and apron.
Who has won more pancake races, Liberal or Olney?
Liberal leads the series, though the two towns publish different tallies. Liberal's own count has it 43 to 31 with 3 no contests after the 2026 race; Olney's website lists 39 to 31 with 2 no contests.
What else is Liberal, Kansas known for?
Liberal is also home to a replica of the Wizard of Oz movie house, built from a 1907 farmhouse and recognized as the official home of Dorothy Gale, and to the Mid America Air Museum, which holds more than 100 aircraft.