Marathon Competition Final Results
By: Nickolas
2010 TopCoder Open Marathon Competition featured a variety of problems which required
untangling a graph on the plane, exploring cellular automaton, learning graph isomorphism
properties and finally finding your way out of a collapsing maze - meaning that any finalist
had to be really erudite, as well as tough enough to code through the 24-hours final round.
They turned out to be both, and put up an impressive struggle for the top position in the
final ranklist. The champion's title went to wata who took part in both Algorithm and
Marathon finals - an impressive achievement on itself. The second place was taken by
chokudai who took the lead on provisional tests, and doudouille climbed to third place all
way from 8th provisional rank.
1. wata
2. chokudai
3. doudouille
4. ploh
5. Psyho
6. nhzp339
7. ainu7
8. ACRush
9. irakli
10. jdmetz
11. O_O
12. tpelkone
Congratulations to wata, our 2010 TopCoder Open Marathon Competition Champion!
wata
Japan
TopCoder got the chance to interview Marathon Champion, wata.
TC: How did it feel to see your name on the scoreboard as the
TCO10 Marathon Champion?
wata: I was in second in the
preliminary scoreboard, so I was really surprised to become champion.
TC: How did you approach the problem at the same time you
fought the lack of sleep during the 24 hours?
wata: Around the dinner, I became
really tired and sleepy. I'm not so tough, so I laid down and rested my mind with
drinking much coffee.
TC: After the 24 hours were up, what is the first thing you
did?
wata: Because I had an Algorithm
semifinal, I returned to the hotel room and slept in a hurry.
TC: Who do you think was your toughest opponent during the
TCO10 Marathon Competition?
wata: It's chokudai. He is a
really tough guy. I heard that he did 24-hours coding for practice many times during the
summer vacation.
TC: Now that you've won, are you going to keep on competing at
TopCoder? What is your next goal?
wata: Of course, I'll keep on
competing.
This year, I became Marathon and Algorithm finalist, and Marathon champion, so my next
goal is to become dual champion!
TC: Of course, last but not least, what will you do with your
big prize?!
wata: I'll use it to improve my
English so that I can answer interviews smoothly next year
