For the sixth straight year, a British woman has defeated her American counterpart in the Shrove Tuesday international pancake race. Marcia Strieff, who sprinted 415 yards carrying and flipping a pancake in a frying pan, crossed the finish line Tuesday in 67.7 seconds to lead the field of 13 American women here. But it wasn't good enough _ Leslie Byrne covered a similar course in Olney, England, in 62.9 seconds. Mrs. Strieff, 30, has won the Liberal leg of the trans-Atlantic race all three times she entered it. The rules prevent her from participating again. ``It's time for someone else to take a turn,'' Mrs. Strieff said. ``... It would have been nice to have beat them at least once.'' According to legend, the race has been run in Olney since 1445, when a forgetful housewife left for church on Shrove Tuesday with her frying pan still in her hand. Liberal made it an international event in 1950 by adding its own race after seeing reports of the English competition. Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, is the day English women traditionally make pancakes to use up cooking fat before Lent. The teams have 19 victories apiece. They tied once. ``I didn't think of the pancake, I just ran,'' said Mrs. Byrne, a physical education teacher. ``I haven't done any training, though sometimes when I take the dog out for a walk, I have a little trot.'' At Olney, about 700 spectators lined the twisting route as Mrs. Byrne outpaced 19 other women in the dash from the market square to the 14th century church in the town of 3,300 about 40 miles northwest of London. A crowd estimated at 3,000, including Gov. Mike Hayden and his wife, Patti, lined the route in Liberal, a community of about 17,000 just north of Oklahoma. Even more spectators turned out later for the Pancake Day Parade, said Rosalee Phillips, the secretary for the annual event. Mrs. Byrne received her prize of 100 pounds, or $175, in cash, various gifts from town merchants, an inscribed silver tray from the town of Liberal and a kiss from Clive Coverley, a ceremonial official known as the town verger. At Liberal, Mrs. Strieff got the kiss of peace from S. Norman Lee, British consul from Chicago, along with roses, a crown, a $500 savings bond and other prizes.
