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Founded, January 2006
29,330 members strong
as of 7-Dec-2024

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The SKCC Marathon Award

Last Update: 4-Dec-2024

Winners | Participants | Logs | Submit QSO

Certificate
Click on the image to enlarge it

To earn the Marathon Award, one must engage in 100 QSOs, each 60 minutes or longer, and each with a different SKCC member using their assigned call, SKCC member number, and SKCC qualified keying devices. There is no time limit to earn the award but only QSOs logged after 0000Z 1 January 2008 count.

A member who achieves the Marathon award will have the option to receive a printable certificate or a special commemorative plaque similar to the one pictured above. The plaque will be mailed to the member upon request. Plaques will be paid for by the Club as long as funds permit, but members are invited to crown their achievement by making a donation.

Rationale: The Marathon Award has been deliberately designed to be a demanding achievement for an Amateur Radio Operator by creating a true operating challenge that involves the fundamental ideals of ham radio as celebrated by SKCC: operating skill, a good station, conversational ability, and a consistent, quality fist. The award cannot be achieved easily and skill grows with each contact. The Marathon Award requires people to use and develop conversational CW expertise to build camaraderie and long-term friendships.

A typical Marathon QSO should result from a CQ, or answering a CQ. It would extend beyond the typical, brief exchanges that have become the starting point for today's QSOs, and proceed to engaging the other station in an extended, informative, and entertaining exchange for a lengthy period. Anyone can send a brief exchange in a few seconds and move on. A Marathon requires real skill, a quality station, and a creative mind.

The Award, as envisioned by the originator, was to enhance the ragchewing skills needed to turn a formatted, quick exchange QSO with another member into a real bond with someone who was essentially unknown. It acknowledges the rare and special talents of those with the highest level of ragchewing ability. Few will be able to earn this award. That remains the spirit and intent of the Marathon Award today.

Here's how it works

1. Complete a QSO lasting at least 60 minutes with another SKCC member. Both parties must be using their own call sign and their own personal SKCC numbers. This restricts use of 2nd call signs, Club call signs, special events call signs, etc.

2. Both parties to the QSO must submit the following QSO information giving the date, time, band, both call signs and SKCC numbers, and duration of the QSO. If you are eligible to use the submission link below, it will fulfill the reporting requirements. If you are not eligible to use the link, then you will need to report your QSO information via email to the award manager, Cecil Turquette, K5YQF, at marathonmanager@skccgroup.com. The QSO details above must be provided under the submitting/confirming stations' email header along with his “QSL” confirming language

3. Logs of active Marathon participants will be displayed on the Marathon Award page after achieving 5 confirmed Marathons. Those only confirming Marathons will not be listed. Logs may be moved to an inactive status after 3 months without a submission.

4. 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 time needed for band change. Minor QSYs within a band like “up 1” to avoid QRM are permissible.

5. 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. This is not intended to exclude occasional portable operations, a second QTH, or a permanent relocation.

6. When a member reaches 100 confirmed QSOs lasting 60 minutes or longer in the database, he or she will qualify for the award. A suitable announcement will be published, and a certificate or commemorative plaque will be prepared for the operator.

7. Participants must use SKCC approved keys (straight keys, sideswipers (cooties), or bugs). See the club's policy on acceptable keys here.

Questions about the award description above should be sent to the Marathon Manager marathonmanager@skccgroup.com at any time.

How to Submit a Marathon QSO

NOTE: Do not use this link if you are not an established marathon participant with a log set up though the Marathon Manager. Do not use this link if you have already the Marathon Award.

Marathon QSOs are submitted via the link below. The data is written directly into your log and will be available immediately after submission. Here's how it works:

Click the link below to begin the process. Follow the online directions. Enter the QSO details in the format requested. You can enter comments to the Award Manager, if desired. You can also send a copy of the data to an email address you enter on the form.

When you submit the QSO info, the software performs several checks and will display relevant error messages. Correct any errors and submit again. If you continue to have difficulties, contact the Marathon Manager for assistance.

This procedure only enters the information into your log. Confirmation is still done by the Marathon Manager. Confirmation is accomplished in two ways:

[1] If the other party is also a marathon participant and has a log, then his submission into log will be considered confirmation for you. And your submission will be considered confirmation for him/her. No other emails will be needed.

[2] If the other party is not a marathon participant, he will not have a log, and he/she will need to confirm the QSO directly to the Marathon Manager. It is recommended you contact the other party to be sure that he/she knows how to confirm the QSO via email.

Questions about the process or any difficulties can be submitted to the Marathon Manager marathonmanager@skccgroup.com at any time.

Marathon Award participants with an established log, and who have not achieved the Award, click this link.

Note: Logs of active Marathon participants will be displayed on the Marathon Award page after achieving 5 confirmed Marathons. Those only confirming Marathons will not be listed. Logs may be moved to an inactive status after 3 months without a submission.


Tracking Marathon Award Progress -- 100 QSOs needed

Award Winners


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 27-Sep-2020 24-Sep-2020
3 K5KV 1952 Benny Owens 100 100 6-Oct-2020 6-Oct-2020
4 WA4FAT 11062 Bill Levey 101 100 17-Nov-2020 17-Nov-2020
5 KU4E 18215 Rob Christian 100 100 19-Nov-2020 19-Nov-2020
6 KQ4CW 22743 Dave Ellison 101 100 7-Feb-2021 7-Feb-2021
7 N7WI 16967 Tom Stoio 103 102 22-Feb-2021 1-Jul-2023
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
10 W2OZB 17177 Phil Bartash 100 100 7-May-2022 7-May-2022
11 W4LRB 11021 Ben Cuperman 100 100 23-May-2022 23-May-2022
12 AA6MK 13548 Mike Kelly 101 100 3-Sep-2022 3-Sep-2022
13 NJ8L 13613 Vern Walker 100 100 13-Dec-2022 13-Dec-2022
14 K2FW 20151 Steve Bockman 100 100 26-Dec-2022 26-Dec-2022
15 AI8AI 23084 Ai Nguyen 100 100 1-Jan-2023 16-Sep-2023
17 VE3WH 4592 Sam Cross 103 100 17-Mar-2023 17-Mar-2023
16 AK9A 5902 Bob Paiva 100 100 17-Mar-2023 17-Mar-2023
18 KA5TJS 5172 Allen Matthews 100 100 29-Mar-2023 29-Mar-2023
19 W6RKE 12450 Jerry Finn 103 101 10-Apr-2023 11-Apr-2023
20 KA8HFN 2046 Larry Fridley 109 106 16-Apr-2023 3-May-2023
21 KY8D 14636 Gan Starling 101 100 23-Apr-2023 23-Apr-2023
22 W3NP 3182 Dave Humbertson 100 100 2-May-2023 2-May-2023
23 KO4WFP 25974 Teri Beard 100 100 19-Oct-2023 19-Oct-2023
24 N5KIP 3755 Dick Burroughs 100 100 13-Nov-2023 13-Nov-2023
25 KA4UPI 2582 Mark Melton 100 100 22-Dec-2023 22-Dec-2023
26 K5MEG 24217 Meg Blubaugh 100 100 25-Feb-2024 25-Feb-2024
27 K0RO 14800 Ralph Bolt 100 100 11-Mar-2024 11-Mar-2024
28 K4KYN 26302 Jeff Gary 100 100 23-Mar-2024 23-Mar-2024
29 VA2GJ 18768 Gerald Lemay 100 100 18-Apr-2024 18-Apr-2024
30 KY4O 7091 Bill Spencer 100 100 10-May-2024 10-May-2024
31 W3DF 12995 Dan Flanagan 101 100 20-Sep-2024 20-Sep-2024

Participants


Callsign SKCC Name Claimed Confirmed Last Update
W4CMG 20093 Cathy Goodrich 68 67 4-Dec-2024
K0AF 22366 Andy Folkmann 65 64 15-Oct-2024
KB1FGC 21047 Rich Guerrera 64 64 26-Aug-2024
KD9KHA 23208 Andy Lach 62 62 27-Apr-2024
W1ZAH 20478 Frank Arciuolo 62 62 1-Apr-2024
AC5P 819 Mike Maloney 59 58 4-Dec-2024
WM4Q 16465 Pete Harris 57 56 12-Apr-2024
W5WTH 18901 Pat Hensley 50 50 9-Sep-2024
K3WK 25013 Gary Tartanian 48 48 8-Nov-2024
WB0B 8753 Larry Newby 47 47 26-Jul-2024
K1PUG 12486 Hank Cattey 55 44 3-Nov-2024
K4ISW 13162 Lee Moyer 42 42 21-Jul-2024
N5DR 19844 Cecil Smith 42 42 18-Sep-2024
K1YAN 7563 Gary Meyn 42 42 8-Nov-2024
AA4SN 15195 Buck Buckowski 41 41 6-Oct-2024
WB5EVO 14807 Paul Adams 41 41 10-May-2024
KJ7GNB 20930 Bill Hunt 40 40 6-Mar-2023
W2ITT 21419 Rob Witt 40 40 17-Jul-2024
ND4U 5936 Den Blair 40 40 1-Sep-2024
K3ESE 19100 Lloyd Lachow 37 37 4-Jul-2024
WA3RSR 23232 Ken Baake 39 36 21-Sep-2024
AH6AX 11165 Larry Wandel 34 34 4-Apr-2024
W8YA 23445 Mark Williams 33 33 13-Mar-2024
WB5JWI 5013 Les Hock 32 32 27-Dec-2023
VE1AHX 18100 Ben Pooley 32 32 31-Jul-2024
AA8CL 2339 Bud Labbato 31 31 22-Apr-2023
KC5F 21092 Steve Smith 28 28 24-Dec-2023
NE5A 24849 George Randolph 27 27 29-Mar-2024
W0RLY 17845 Eric Worley 26 26 4-Dec-2024
AF4QK 20594 Kenny Averitte 25 25 10-Mar-2024
VA5CW 4326 Bill Down 25 24 16-Jan-2024
AC4ZH 21121 Duane Dickens 24 24 4-Feb-2024
W9DLN 3635 Dan Nyman 24 24 25-Oct-2023
WI0S 2048 Kieth Cook 22 22 5-Sep-2023
WI5H 11770 Mike Maner 22 22 26-Apr-2023
K7NXL 25895 Dan Boren 22 22 12-Dec-2023
W4LSV 2795 Barry Fluxe 21 21 24-Apr-2024
N4HAY 14649 Dick Hayter 21 21 9-Nov-2023
ND8MS 19789 Mark Soulard 21 21 22-May-2024
N4TMM 14467 Jim Ewing 21 20 18-Feb-2024
N8DF 22670 Dave Fuller 20 20 1-Sep-2024
F6HKA 6069 Bert Banlier 20 20 20-Aug-2024
K5PE 17399 Roger Dillon 20 20 18-Oct-2023
N4JEH 26014 Jenna Hurley 20 20 21-Apr-2024
KG5SSB 21881 Dan Bostick 20 20 8-Nov-2024
AI4UH 27340 Adam Nissley 20 20 7-Jul-2024
WB4HUL 1787 Sid Scott 19 19 28-Dec-2023
AB4PP 32 John-Paul Keon 19 19 1-Dec-2024
N3BNT 2309 Dennis Heidt 20 19 19-Nov-2023
NF1O 164 Barry Whittemore 19 19 31-May-2024
KD0EVP 22435 Darren Hain 19 19 2-Apr-2023
K4IIG 25208 Gary Kyle 18 18 3-Apr-2024
NW7US 4758 Tomas Hood 17 17 28-Mar-2024
KD2GUT 23124 Caryn Murray 17 17 6-May-2024
K8UDH 10532 Bruce Murdock 16 16 13-Apr-2023
K4ARD 8197 Brian Ard 16 16 7-Jul-2024
NK2Y 27215 Jay Fox Sr. 16 16 26-Oct-2023
KE8UEX 26310 Ram Seshan 15 15 24-Mar-2024
K1RWT 19217 Russ Tine 15 15 8-May-2024
K5OGX 5078 Phillip Barros 15 15 24-May-2024
WB9CYY 26540 Don Lawson 16 15 4-Dec-2024
KJ4R 13788 Ed Bradshaw 14 14 28-Feb-2024
W6DFM 27053 Mike Mitchell 14 14 21-May-2024
K4UYQ 17931 Don Bulloch 14 14 10-May-2024
W2QCY 21544 John Farina 13 13 28-Feb-2024
W4CLR 27935 David Schiff 13 13 31-Jul-2024
N0IPA 23014 Jim Stinson 11 11 25-Oct-2023
W4EML 24957 Ed Manfredi 11 11 7-Sep-2024
AC8KJ 8611 George Rowe 10 10 3-Sep-2023
AC9HP 21348 Wayne Michael 10 10 22-Jul-2024
KY5VAR 27745 Ky Vargas 10 10 15-May-2024
N7PHI 20999 Derek Hansen 9 9 25-Feb-2022
K3ZGA/SK 12392 Bob Schwer 9 9 21-Apr-2023
K5ENS 19964 Ken Schumacher 9 9 18-Dec-2022
W4ABQ 2782 Kevin Falls 9 9 24-Jan-2024
AF5Z 27159 Bob Helms 9 9 9-Oct-2024
K1SP 26931 Matt Hudak 10 9 9-Oct-2024
W6JIM 15169 Jim Crites 8 8 17-Apr-2023
KY4ID 25154 Mike Burton 9 8 14-Sep-2023
N6CUQ 24270 Matt Shank 8 8 8-Mar-2023
AB4RH 7310 Billy Zeyher 8 8 14-Apr-2023
AB8DY 15285 Craig McVey 8 8 1-Jan-2024
VA3FRL 24441 Rick Lorenz 7 7 18-Mar-2024
K4TNE 13884 Jeff Bray 7 7 16-Oct-2023
NA7DO 28451 Aldo Mendoza 7 7 6-Oct-2024
KC1FUU 24695 Jon Foster 6 6 21-Dec-2023
WB4OFT 958 John McKee 6 6 6-Feb-2024
AK6FB 28398 Allen Levin 6 6 20-Aug-2024
AA5JC 24262 Josh Carroll 5 5 17-Apr-2023
KF0QS 8872 Bernie Poskus 5 5 9-Nov-2023
KC4NO 25318 Mark Cruse 5 5 22-Feb-2024
KF4GNV 26106 Ron Hamby 5 5 23-Feb-2024
N4FTD 26884 Paul Schwan 5 5 29-Nov-2024
PG4I 11019 Jo Stakenborg 4 4 31-Oct-2023
WQ1C 228 Warren Rowe 5 4 29-Nov-2024
SV8ANW 19770 Jim Ligkas - Triantopoulos 4 4 4-Feb-2024
YL3JD 21931 Hanz Van de pol 3 3 20-Mar-2023