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 |
| AA4SN | 15195 | Buck Buckowski | 10 | 10 | 04 Oct 2020 | ||
| AA8KY | 6159 | Billy Massie | 16 | 16 | 01 Oct 2020 | ||
| AC4ZH | 21121 | Paul Dickens | 3 | 3 | 10 Sep 2020 | ||
| AE5II | 15292 | KC Copley | 7 | 7 | 22 Sep 2020 | ||
| AF4QK | 20594 | Kenny Averitte | 3 | 3 | 09 Oct 2020 | ||
| K0RO | 14800 | Ralph Bolt | 12 | 12 | 09 Oct 2020 | ||
| K2FW | 20151 | Steve Bockman | 11 | 11 | 17 Oct 2020 | ||
| K3ESE | 19100 | Lloyd Lachow | 15 | 15 | 15 Sep 2020 | ||
| K3ZGA | 12392 | Bob Schwer | 6 | 6 | 01 Oct 2020 | ||
| K4ISW | 13162 | Lee Moyer | 9 | 9 | 15 Oct 2020 | ||
| K7VM | 3070 | Craig Weygandt | 1 | 1 | 03 May 2020 | ||
| K8UDH | 10532 | Bruce Murdock | 4 | 4 | 01 Oct 2020 | ||
| K9GVM | 21171 | Nick Andrews | 2 | 2 | 24 Jun 2020 | ||
| KA4UPI | 2582 | Mark Melton | 6 | 6 | 04 Oct 2020 | ||
| KA8HFN | 2046 | Larry Fridley | 56 | 41 | 14 Feb 2020 | ||
| KC5F | 21092 | Steve Smith | 12 | 12 | 07 Oct 2020 | ||
| KE8CTH | 17337 | Brant Colbry | 5 | 5 | 12 Sep 2020 | ||
| KJ7GNB | 20930 | Bill Hunt | 14 | 14 | 17 Oct 2020 | ||
| KK0I | 2370 | Jack Hill | 17 | 16 | 18 Oct 2020 | ||
| KN4IXU | 18215 | Rob Christian | 76 | 76 | 20 Oct 2020 | ||
| KQ4CW | 22743 | Dave Ellison | 2 | 2 | 18 Oct 2020 | ||
| N0GRP | 23055 | Rob Sullivan | 1 | 1 | 07 Oct 2020 | ||
| N4HAY | 14649 | Dick Hayter | 1 | 1 | 18 Oct 2020 | ||
| N4TMM | 14467 | Jim Ewing | 6 | 6 | 15 Aug 2020 | ||
| N5DR | 19844 | Cecil Smith | 3 | 3 | 06 Oct 2020 | ||
| N5KIP | 3755 | Dick Burroughs | 6 | 6 | 14 Oct 2020 | ||
| N7PHI | 20999 | Derek Hansen | 6 | 6 | 22 Sep 2020 | ||
| N7WI | 16967 | Tom Stoio | 3 | 2 | 20 Oct 2020 | ||
| N8DF | 22670 | Dave Fuller | 4 | 4 | 19 Oct 2020 | ||
| ND9M | 8233 | Jim Clary | 7 | 7 | 19 Oct 2020 | ||
| NW7US | 4758 | Tomas Hood | 3 | 3 | 05 Oct 2020 | ||
| PG4I | 11019 | Jo Stakenborg | 1 | 1 | 12 Oct 2020 | ||
| W0RLY | 17845 | ERIC Worley | 5 | 5 | 29 Sep 2020 | ||
| W1TAG | 15461 | John Andrews | 7 | 7 | 17 Sep 2020 | ||
| W2ITT | 21419 | Rob WITT | 9 | 9 | 15 Oct 2020 | ||
| W2OZB | 17177 | Philip Bartash | 32 | 32 | 19 Oct 2020 | ||
| W2SKY | 22019 | Peter Fournia | 3 | 3 | 10 Sep 2020 | ||
| W4LSV | 2795 | Barry Fluxe | 4 | 4 | 25 Sep 2020 | ||
| W6JIM | 15169 | Jim Crites | 5 | 5 | 20 May 2020 | ||
| W6RKE | 12450 | Jerry Finn | 13 | 11 | 02 Aug 2020 | ||
| WA3SCM | 2968 | Dave Slater | 3 | 3 | 20 Oct 2020 | ||
| WA4FAT | 11062 | Bill Levey | 80 | 80 | 18 Oct 2020 | ||
| WA4NID | 17453 | Dave Johnson | 1 | 1 | 03 Oct 2020 | ||
| WB0B | 8753 | Larry Newby | 12 | 12 | 28 Sep 2020 | ||
| WB8SCT | 15511 | Jack Gerbs | 4 | 4 | 20 Oct 2020 | ||
| WD6TED | 21371 | Ted Thompson | 3 | 3 | 25 Sep 2020 | ||
| YL3JD | 21931 | Hanz Van de pol | 1 | 1 | 12 Oct 2020 |
To see each participant's latest log, visit the entrants' log page here.