The SKCC Marathon Award
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To earn the Marathon Award, one must engage in 100 QSOs, each 60 minutes or longer, and each with a different SKCC member using SKCC qualified keying devices. There is no time limit to earn the award but only QSOs logged after 0000Z 1 January 2008 count.
Members who achieve the Marathon award will receive a special commemorative plaque.
Rationale: Create a true operating challenge that involves the fundamental ideals of ham radio as celebrated by SKCC: operating skill, a good station, conversation skill, and a consistent, quality fist. Create an award that cannot be achieved easily or quickly yet promotes quality content in every contact. The Marathon Award requires people to actually ragchew. Ragchews build camaraderie and long-term friendships. These are ideals worth working for.
The Marathon Award has been deliberately designed to be a challenging achievement for an Amateur Radio Operator. Ragchewing is an art. Anyone can send a brief exchange in a few seconds and move on. Engaging the other station in an extended, informative, and entertaining exchange for a lengthy period requires real skill, a quality station, and a creative mind. The intent of the Marathon Award is to recognize these rare and special talents with the highest level of ragchewing recognition created to date. Few will be able to earn this award.
Here's how it works:
1. Both parties to the QSO must send an email "QSL" to the award manager, Cecil Turquette, K5YQF, at marathonmanager@skccgroup.com showing the date, time, frequency band, both call signs and SKCC numbers, and duration of the QSO. The confirming station must provide QSO details under his email header along with his “QSL” statement or other confirming language.
2. One band change is permissible during the QSO, and is limited to a break no longer than 10 minutes. The QSO must be extended to include the QSY time time.
3. All QSOs must be from your home QTH using your equipment and antennas. If your only mode of operation is via remotely located equipment, then all 100 marathons must be made from the same remote equipment.
4. When a member reaches 100 QSOs lasting 60 minutes or longer in the database, he or she will qualify for the award. A suitable announcement will be published, the commemorative plaque will be prepared and sent to the operator.
5. Participants must use straight keys, sideswipers (cooties), or bugs. See the club's policy on acceptable keys here.
Tracking Marathon Award Progress -- 100 QSOs needed
| Award | Callsign | SKCC | Name | Claimed | Confirmed | Awarded | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K5YQF | 1820 | Cecil Turquette | 100 | 100 | 24 Sep 2014 | 24 Sep 2014 |
| 2 | N5IR | 12357 | Bill Billingsley | 100 | 100 | 24 Sep 2020 | 24 Sep 2020 |
| 3 | K5KV | 1952 | Benny Owens | 100 | 100 | 06 Oct 2020 | 06 Oct 2020 |
| 4 | WA4FAT | 11062 | Bill Levey | 101 | 100 | 17 Nov 2020 | 17 Nov 2020 |
| 5 | KN4IXU | 18215 | Rob Christian | 100 | 100 | 19 Nov 2020 | 19 Nov 2020 |
| 6 | KQ4CW | 22743 | Dave Ellison | 101 | 100 | 07 Feb 2021 | 07 Feb 2021 |
| 7 | N7WI | 16967 | Tom Stoio | 103 | 100 | 22 Feb 2021 | 22 Feb 2021 |
| 8 | WA3SCM | 2968 | Dave Slater | 100 | 100 | 11 Mar 2021 | 11 Mar 2021 |
| 9 | KK0I | 2370 | Jack Hill | 100 | 100 | 21 Apr 2021 | 21 Apr 2021 |
| AA4SN | 15195 | Buck Buckowski | 14 | 14 | 14 Mar 2021 | ||
| AA5JC | 24262 | Josh Carroll | 3 | 3 | 21 Jun 2021 | ||
| AA5XA | 21179 | Eddie Thorn | 7 | 7 | 17 May 2021 | ||
| AA8CL | 2339 | Carmen "Bud" Labbato | 18 | 18 | 30 Jun 2021 | ||
| AA8KY | 6159 | Billy Massie | 39 | 39 | 03 Jul 2021 | ||
| AB4PP | 32 | John-Paul Keon | 3 | 3 | 02 Dec 2020 | ||
| AC4ZH | 21121 | Paul Dickens | 15 | 15 | 10 Jun 2021 | ||
| AC5NL | 21749 | Jeff Moore | 6 | 6 | 19 Feb 2021 | ||
| AE5II | 15292 | KC Copley | 9 | 9 | 25 May 2021 | ||
| AF4QK | 20594 | Kenny Averitte | 9 | 9 | 27 Feb 2021 | ||
| AH6AX | 11165 | Larry Wandel | 16 | 16 | 10 Jun 2021 | ||
| AI6W | 22986 | Jon Nall | 5 | 5 | 23 Nov 2020 | ||
| F6HKA | 6069 | Bert Banlier | 11 | 11 | 17 May 2021 | ||
| K0RO | 14800 | Ralph Bolt | 40 | 40 | 10 Dec 2020 | ||
| K1PUG | 12486 | Hank Cattey | 12 | 12 | 25 Jul 2021 | ||
| K2FW | 20151 | Steve Bockman | 32 | 32 | 03 Jul 2021 | ||
| K2MZ | 21122 | Rob Zarges | 3 | 3 | 02 Jan 2021 | ||
| K3ESE | 19100 | Lloyd Lachow | 27 | 27 | 18 Jul 2021 | ||
| K3ZGA | 12392 | Bob Schwer | 7 | 7 | 27 Dec 2020 | ||
| K4ISW | 13162 | Lee Moyer | 16 | 16 | 19 Feb 2021 | ||
| K5PE | 17399 | Roger Dillon | 15 | 15 | 08 Jul 2021 | ||
| K8UDH | 10532 | Bruce Murdock | 8 | 8 | 23 Feb 2021 | ||
| KA4UPI | 2582 | Mark Melton | 27 | 27 | 26 Jun 2021 | ||
| KA5TJS | 5172 | Allen Matthews | 22 | 22 | 25 Jul 2021 | ||
| KA8HFN | 2046 | Larry Fridley | 77 | 63 | 26 Jun 2021 | ||
| KC3LNB | 20859 | Scott Vanek | 7 | 7 | 26 Mar 2021 | ||
| KC4HCH | 7688 | Roger Land | 1 | 1 | 23 Dec 2020 | ||
| KC5F | 21092 | Steve Smith | 17 | 17 | 06 May 2021 | ||
| KD8TUR | 12017 | Dave Tourtelot | 7 | 7 | 15 Apr 2021 | ||
| KD9KHA | 23208 | Andy Lach | 35 | 35 | 25 Apr 2021 | ||
| KE8CTH | 17337 | Brant Colbry | 6 | 6 | 25 Jan 2021 | ||
| KF6C | 3398 | Brian Comer | 2 | 2 | 06 May 2021 | ||
| KG4IKQ | 13612 | Jim Elkins | 2 | 2 | 20 Jul 2021 | ||
| KG6OKI | 9781 | Mark Holiday | 2 | 2 | 24 Jun 2021 | ||
| KJ7GNB | 20930 | Bill Hunt | 23 | 23 | 02 Jun 2021 | ||
| KK7XC | 20133 | Eric Brill | 1 | 1 | 22 Dec 2020 | ||
| KL2AX | 8329 | John Larsen | 2 | 2 | 12 Dec 2020 | ||
| N3BNT | 2309 | Dennis Heidt | 11 | 11 | 09 Mar 2021 | ||
| N4HAY | 14649 | Dick Hayter | 4 | 4 | 09 Jan 2021 | ||
| N4TMM | 14467 | Jim Ewing | 8 | 8 | 05 Jan 2021 | ||
| N5DR | 19844 | Cecil Smith | 11 | 11 | 28 Apr 2021 | ||
| N5KIP | 3755 | Dick Burroughs | 25 | 25 | 22 Jun 2021 | ||
| N7PHI | 20999 | Derek Hansen | 8 | 8 | 12 Jan 2021 | ||
| N8BB | 5433 | Werner Haschke | 3 | 3 | 10 Dec 2020 | ||
| N8DF | 22670 | Dave Fuller | 6 | 6 | 19 Mar 2021 | ||
| ND4U | 5936 | Den Blair | 18 | 18 | 18 Apr 2021 | ||
| ND8MS | 19789 | Mark Soulard | 4 | 4 | 19 Mar 2021 | ||
| ND9M | 8233 | Jim Clary | 8 | 8 | 29 Dec 2020 | ||
| NF1O | 164 | Barry Whittemore | 2 | 2 | 04 May 2021 | ||
| NJ8L | 13613 | Vern Walker | 18 | 18 | 26 Jun 2021 | ||
| NW7US | 4758 | Tomas Hood | 6 | 6 | 14 Apr 2021 | ||
| VA2GJ | 18768 | Gerald Lemay | 5 | 5 | 05 Apr 2021 | ||
| VA3RSA | 21258 | Rich Budny | 3 | 3 | 07 Dec 2020 | ||
| VA5CW | 4326 | Bill Down | 9 | 8 | 10 Mar 2021 | ||
| W0RLY | 17845 | ERIC Worley | 8 | 8 | 11 Feb 2021 | ||
| W1TAG | 15461 | John Andrews | 10 | 10 | 19 Mar 2021 | ||
| W1WIU | 486 | Jim Greenwood | 1 | 1 | 08 Mar 2021 | ||
| W2ITT | 21419 | Rob WITT | 17 | 17 | 01 Jul 2021 | ||
| W2OZB | 17177 | Philip Bartash | 62 | 62 | 19 Jul 2021 | ||
| W2SKY | 22019 | Peter Fournia | 16 | 16 | 01 Apr 2021 | ||
| W3NP | 3182 | Dave Humbertson | 27 | 27 | 18 Jul 2021 | ||
| W4AWH | 22772 | Dave Tinaglia | 5 | 5 | 13 May 2021 | ||
| W4LRB | 11021 | Ben Cuperman | 54 | 54 | 25 Jul 2021 | ||
| W4LSV | 2795 | Barry Fluxe | 6 | 6 | 21 Jun 2021 | ||
| W5OTR | 8794 | Chris Leslie | 11 | 11 | 06 Jun 2021 | ||
| W5WTH | 18901 | Pat Hensley | 11 | 11 | 26 May 2021 | ||
| W6JIM | 15169 | Jim Crites | 6 | 6 | 14 Nov 2020 | ||
| W6RKE | 12450 | Jerry Finn | 22 | 20 | 24 Jun 2021 | ||
| W6TED | 21371 | Ted Thompson | 8 | 8 | 18 Dec 2020 | ||
| W7OWF | 21582 | Rick Doughty | 2 | 2 | 27 Dec 2020 | ||
| W9YY | 21824 | Jack McClurkin | 11 | 11 | 16 Jun 2021 | ||
| WA3IGU | 19535 | Dennis DiAugustine | 4 | 4 | 21 May 2021 | ||
| WA3RSR | 23232 | Ken Baake | 8 | 7 | 13 May 2021 | ||
| WB0B | 8753 | Larry Newby | 32 | 32 | 25 Jun 2021 | ||
| WB2LQF | 6488 | Stan Levandowski | 6 | 6 | 30 Apr 2021 | ||
| WB4HUL | 1787 | Sid Scott | 4 | 4 | 01 Apr 2021 | ||
| WB5EVO | 14807 | Paul Adams | 17 | 17 | 02 Mar 2021 | ||
| WB5JWI | 5013 | Les Hock | 3 | 3 | 13 Feb 2021 | ||
| WI0S | 2048 | Kieth Cook | 9 | 9 | 16 Feb 2021 | ||
| WI5H | 11770 | Mike Maner | 13 | 13 | 28 May 2021 | ||
| WM4Q | 16465 | Pete Harris | 25 | 25 | 20 May 2021 |
To see each participant's latest log, visit the entrants' log page here.