Every once in a while a whimsical story makes our newspapers ” a story with no real significance except for what it reveals about the human family. Last year on Ash Wednesday the Associated Press carried a story about a woman in Olney, England named Dawn Gallyot who defied snow and a biting wind to beat seven other women to the finish line in the annual Shrove Tuesday pancake race. In her first race, the 38-year-old school administrator made the 415-yard dash with a frying pan and a pancake from a pub in the market square to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in 73 seconds. That was 9.5 seconds slower than last year's pace. Each woman must flip a pancake in the frying pan at the start and at the finish of the race. The record is 58 seconds. Mrs. Gallyot, who wore a traditional headscarf …