KANSAS CITY, Mo. – One Kansas City Marathon runner combined two things during Saturday’s race which don’t usually go together.
David Babcock, who is a graphic design professor in Warrensburg, combines two of his favorite hobbies while participating in races like Saturday’s marathon: running and knitting.
In fact, last year Babcock set the world record for knitting the longest scarf while running in a marathon.
It’s an odd combination; the gentle click, click of wooden knitting needles, blended with the steady footfall of a long race. Both hobbies take a lot of time. That’s why Babcock decided to multi-task.
“The record is 12 feet one and three-fourths inches long. It’s a pretty big scarf,” said Babcock.
That record was set at the race last year. This year it’s something else. Babcock is finger knitting to prepare for a race in New York.
“I’m running in NYC marathon and security is really tight and I couldn’t bring needles and hooks. I invented my own way to finger knit to make it work,” he said about his idea to use his fingers as his knitting tools.
On Saturday he was knitting in blue and gold for the royals, raising money for Alzheimer’s research, all while running a mere 26.2 miles.
Babcock sells some of his scarves and the proceeds also go to Alzheimer’s research.
