Man sets world knitting record while running KC Marathon

Without ever flipping through the “Guinness Book of World Records,” it is probably a safe assumption that most of the records set are pretty run of the mill. Woman with the longest hair, man with the longest fingernails, longest road-trip – these are all impressive feats, and are no doubt fairly “normal.” If you actually do pick up any one of the versions of the book, however, you will quickly learn that there is nothing farther from the truth. The records being set in the book are mostly absurd, with a few normal records sprinkled throughout. So when we heard about a man setting a record while running in a marathon, we couldn’t help but be impressed – and just had to share it with you here.

David Babcock is a graphic design professor at the University of Central Missouri, and has set the world record for “scarf-kitting-while-running-a-marathon.” No, that is not a type, there actually is a record, and it was even previously held by a woman named Susie Hewer. Babcock finished the Kansas City Marathon in five hours, forty-eight minutes, and twenty-seven seconds. Guinness had knitting experts on hand at the event, who measured the scarf that he created as he ran. The scarf came in just over twelve feet long, beating Hewer’s previous record of six foot, nine inches.

After mastering both running and knitting separately, Babcock made the decision to combine his two favorite pass times in order to keep things interesting. We would say that he accomplished that goal, among many others.