ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The 2026 International Pancake Day Race will be here before everyone knows it, and there will be a big change coming.
As Pancake day Board President Mike Brack tells it, there had been some discussion about the change before.
“Between Liberal and Olney, we've always tried to maintain the same rules when it comes to the International Pancake Day Race so everything's fair – there has been some minor flexibility in some areas, but for the most part, all of the rules are the same here as they are in Olney,” Brack said. “With how we have everything in Liberal, we have to set a deadline roughly 30 days before the race in order to make sure we have women signed up to run in the International race, while in Olney, women had the opportunity to sign up for the race the day of, and they always have more than 15 racers. With Olney being a small community, they've allowed women from the surrounding areas, if they're employed in Olney, to run in the race – and in Liberal, we have people driving in from Hugoton and the Oklahoma Panhandle for work. So starting with the 2026 race, ladies who don't reside in Liberal but work here are eligible to participate in the race, and they still have to follow all the other race rules and everything else. In years past, it's been a bit disappointing to not have a full slate of racers in the International Race, so we're hoping this change will help motivate not only Liberal ladies to run in the race and sign up earlier, but also women from other communities in the area.”
Brack said more serious discussions about making the change started after the 2025 race.
“We sent Sarah and Amy Thompson to Olney as Liberal representatives for Pancake Day 2025, and when they came back, they gave us a full report on how things went when they were over there. Part of that conversation was them telling us how Olney allows women who work but don't reside there in town to participate in the race, and after we talked to David Phillipson (who's the chairman of the board there) and confirmed it, we decided to do the same thing,” Brack said. “Pancake Day is a fun and quirky event, and we want to be as inclusive as possible since the goal of Pancake Day is to have fun. The big push was us wanting to have a full field of racers – if you have a variety of women from in and out of Liberal who are participating in the race, word will get around. If you know someone who's running in the race and you're from, say, Hugoton, you'll come and participate in the other festivities and support your friend running the race. We decided the more participation we could get, the better the race will be.”
Brack added the update to the race is very exciting.
“I hope it brings more people to Liberal to celebrate this fun and quirky event, and I hope it inspires more women to be part of the race, especially if they haven't taken part in it before. It's a full weekend of events, and there was a couple from Olney who visited some years ago who said 'Only in the U.S. can you take a race that lasts less than two minutes and turn it into a full weekend festival,'” Brack said. “There are some events we don't do anymore that we'd love to bring back, but that requires more people to help coordinate that, so if there's anyone in the community who wants to help with those efforts, they are more than welcome to get in touch with me or anyone on the Pancake Day Board and tell us what they want to do. However, there are many events we've been able to keep, like the Pancake Chase and the Flipping and Eating contests and the Mascot Race, and we would love to make Pancake Day big and bold every year. There's already been an announcement on our social media pages – Isabelle Sullenger and Mandy Read are social media experts and have been doing a wonderful job with all of that, and I know that's already seen a lot of views and reactions. And we got that announcement out early because we do want women in Liberal and the surrounding area to think about whether or not they want to be part of the race for 2026. It might seem like Pancake Day is still kind of far away, but it'll be here before everyone knows it, so it's a good time to start at least thinking about everything.”
Sign-ups for the 2026 International Pancake Day Race will start at 6 a.m. Friday, Jan. 2, 2026 and will close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, and all entries will be done online at pancakeday.net.
Overall, Brack said, he is excited for the 2026 festivities.
“It's all about community fun and community support and just being together at such a unique event. I'll definitely be interested to see who all ends up signing up for the International Race, and I'd love to see another Liberal victory,” Brack said. “If you're interested at all, start practicing for everything and make sure you've got your headscarf and apron and are ready to go for Pancake Day 2026!”
