Call me crazy, but this doesn't sound like a very good idea. Apparently David Babcock, a professor of graphic design at the University of Central Missouri, thinks it is perfectly fine. I'm in awe since I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, David Babcock broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Scarf Knitted while Running in the Kansas City Marathon (that's 26.2 miles or 42.2 km). There are no typos in that sentence, he was able to knit a 12-foot 3/4 inch (about 3.7 meters) scarf in the 5 hours, 48 minutes and 27 seconds it took him to run the race. (At least I think that's right since several sources said the scarf was 12 feet, 13/4 inches, which means 12 feet 3 1/4 inches. Your guess is as good as mine on this one.) It was a long scarf.
Babcock says he started running and knitting about three years ago and because both can become tedious he decided to combine them. (Sure do two tedious things together and it's better, right?) Here's a video showing you how he does it (The music is annoying, so you might wish to mute your sound). Perhaps you'll think like I did the first time through it--Hey he's walking not running, a pop-up midway through the video says that it's one-half speed and then runs it at full speed. He is running and knitting.
Apparently Babcock has only fallen once when he missed a pothole because he was knitting. Want to see what it looks like to be carrying a 12 foot scarf you've knit running? Like this:
There are a few words of advice this knitting runner offers:
1) Use acrylic yarn, it is better at wicking the sweat away. Natural fibers absorb too much.
2) Figure out a yarn carrying device. Babcock uses a large fanny pack.
3) Determine how to carry the already knitted scarf with you. This fellow, as you can see above, wraps it around his body and keeps it on his body with carabiners.
Knitters will want to know the following: It is clearly a garter stitch done on US size 15 (10 mm) plastic needles. (He'll be hard pressed to do too much damage to himself with plastic needles and they are lighter weight.) Babcock cast on 30 stitches. If you watch the video you'll see he's knitting using the Continental style.
Finally, Babcock took the record away for someone else who does this. The Guinness scarf-knitting-while-running-a-marathon record was previously held by Susie Hewer from the UK who runs to raise money for Alzheimer disease research. She knit a 6 foot, 9 inch (just over 2 meter) scarf at the London Marathon in April. (Wonder if she was using size 15 needles and only 30 stitches?) Babcock is also raising money for Alzheimer research at this website: www.donotstaple.com
I'll leave you with these images of David Babcock during and after the race:
How embarrassed would you feel if you lost the race to this guy and all you were doing was running?
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, David Babcock broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Scarf Knitted while Running in the Kansas City Marathon (that's 26.2 miles or 42.2 km). There are no typos in that sentence, he was able to knit a 12-foot 3/4 inch (about 3.7 meters) scarf in the 5 hours, 48 minutes and 27 seconds it took him to run the race. (At least I think that's right since several sources said the scarf was 12 feet, 13/4 inches, which means 12 feet 3 1/4 inches. Your guess is as good as mine on this one.) It was a long scarf.
Babcock says he started running and knitting about three years ago and because both can become tedious he decided to combine them. (Sure do two tedious things together and it's better, right?) Here's a video showing you how he does it (The music is annoying, so you might wish to mute your sound). Perhaps you'll think like I did the first time through it--Hey he's walking not running, a pop-up midway through the video says that it's one-half speed and then runs it at full speed. He is running and knitting.
Apparently Babcock has only fallen once when he missed a pothole because he was knitting. Want to see what it looks like to be carrying a 12 foot scarf you've knit running? Like this:
There are a few words of advice this knitting runner offers:
1) Use acrylic yarn, it is better at wicking the sweat away. Natural fibers absorb too much.
2) Figure out a yarn carrying device. Babcock uses a large fanny pack.
3) Determine how to carry the already knitted scarf with you. This fellow, as you can see above, wraps it around his body and keeps it on his body with carabiners.
Knitters will want to know the following: It is clearly a garter stitch done on US size 15 (10 mm) plastic needles. (He'll be hard pressed to do too much damage to himself with plastic needles and they are lighter weight.) Babcock cast on 30 stitches. If you watch the video you'll see he's knitting using the Continental style.
Finally, Babcock took the record away for someone else who does this. The Guinness scarf-knitting-while-running-a-marathon record was previously held by Susie Hewer from the UK who runs to raise money for Alzheimer disease research. She knit a 6 foot, 9 inch (just over 2 meter) scarf at the London Marathon in April. (Wonder if she was using size 15 needles and only 30 stitches?) Babcock is also raising money for Alzheimer research at this website: www.donotstaple.com
I'll leave you with these images of David Babcock during and after the race:
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| Binding Off |
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| Running |
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| And the set up for measuring |
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