National Cathedral clergy will showcase their mad skillet skillz this afternoon for the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race.

According to the Cathedral’s Web site, the eighth annual race builds on a tradition dating back to fifteenth-century, where Christians cooked foods like pancakes to get their fill of eggs and fat before Lent started on Ash Wednesday.

At around 12:30 pm – after the noon Eucharist – Cathedral staff and students from Cathedral schools with join the hotcake flipping clergy in events like Pancake Academia, Organist’s Blue Plate Special and something called “Loaded Canons.” Racers must flip their pancake three times –after the starting signal, during the middle of the race and after the contestant has crossed the finish line. The big showdown is the challenge for the Golden Skillet, which we envision as some sort of epic battle between Hungry Jack and Aunt Jemima. As if the sheer glory and bragging rights weren’t enough, prizes also will be awarded.

Bring it, Butterworth.