Regardless of speed, the Equinox Marathon believes its participants should be recognized for their efforts, so includes the following awards for 2026.
MARATHON
Overall Awards for Men and Women
1st Place — Engraved Epoxy Birch Board designed by Jamie Hollingsworth; Free Lifetime Entry to future Equinox Marathons (but no free relay entry)
2nd through 5th Place — Engraved Birch Bowls from Great Alaska Bowl Compny
NOTE: These awards replace the “gold” plates of various sizes that have traditionally been given to Top 5 finishers.
CASH AWARDS (bringing back for 2026): 1st Place – $300; 2nd Place, $200; 3rd Place, $100
Age Group Awards
The Top 5 in following age groups (men and women) will earn a triangular Equinox medal with customized ribbon:
— 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-89 (if there are entrants)
NOTE: This is a change from recent years that awarded the top 3 in five-year age groups (although 10-year-age groups are nothing new and were given as recently as 2004)
NOTE on Marathon runners age 17 & under: These runners may enter the race, and will certainly receive a result (and a patch) for finishing. However, given the debatability of whether it is prudent for teenagers (or younger) to run marathons, the Equinox organizers wish not to encourage competition among younger runners and therefore no awards for runners 17 & under will be given.
All MARATHON FINISHERS in 10 hours, 0 minutes or faster — Receive the traditional Equinox Patch
*Nonbinary Division — The top 3 overall nonbinary runners will receive an Engraved Birch Bowl.
Because there are limited members of this category, nonbinary runners are asked to sign up in advance of race week as that greatly aids the directors in awards planning!
For results purposes, there will be 3 gendered categories published separately: men, women & nonbinary.
MARATHON HIKE
Because this is a noncompetitive division, there are no awards. If fact, if you are registered as a hikers but go too fast (faster than 7 hours), you’ll be moved into the runners’ results!
All hikers who finish in 10 hours or faster receive an Equinox patch.
RELAY
(NEW FOR 2026) All Individual Relay Finishers
Receive a customized leather coaster — you can collect the set of 3 by finishing each leg of the relay in 3 or more years, and the coasters for each leg are a different color with different descriptive engraving! Relay runners will receive their coaster upon finishing their leg.
Special Relay Awards given at the September 19 SRC Awards Ceremony:
-Fastest Men’s Team
-Fastest Women’s Team
-Fastest Coed Team
-Fastest Masters Team (regardless of gendered makeup)
-Best Team Name
-Best Team Costumes
In addition, the fastest male and female runners for Legs 1, 2, and 3 will receive a medal.
SPIRIT OF THE EQUINOX
The Spirit of the Equinox Award is given annually. See list of winners and award details HERE.
GUN TIME vs. CHIP TIME
Results (and awards) are determined by GUN TIME, not chip time, so if you reach the finish line ahead of a nearby competitor you are guaranteed to be ranked ahead of them in the results.
AWARDS CEREMONIES
There will be two Awards Ceremonies
1 p.m. at the finish area – Brief Ceremony recognizing the Top 5 overall men and women and Top Relay teams
6 p.m. at the UAF Student Recreation Center (door open 5:30 p.m) — All awards listed above will be given.
The evening awards ceremony is free and runners, friends & family are encouraged to attend. All attendees will receive a raffle ticket and be eligible for DOOR PRIZES (regardless of whether they ran or hiked the Equinox.
Complimentary pizza (Domino’s), dessert (compliments of Alaska Salmon Bake) and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (mostly from Black Spruce Brewing Co.) will be provided!