Marathon Competition Official Rules and Regulations
The 2010 TopCoder Open Marathon Competition ("Marathon Competition") will take place between March 29, 2010 and October 14, 2010. The Marathon Competition will consist of three (3) Online Rounds, with up to twelve (12) of the highest scoring competitors winning a trip to the Tournament to compete in the onsite 24 hour Championship Round.
The Marathon Competition is part of the Tournament, and by participating in this Marathon Competition, you agree to these rules.
Registration
Competitors can register for the Tournament and be eligible to participate in the Marathon Competition between 9:00 UTC -4 on Monday, March 29, 2010, and 9:00 UTC -4 on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. Competitors do not need to register separately for the Marathon Competition. The Marathon Competition will take place between March 29, 2010 and October 14, 2010. There is no limit to the number of Competitors who can participate for the Marathon Competition; however each Competitor may only participate using one handle.
Competition Round Structure
Each Online and Onsite Round of the Marathon Competition consists of two phases: the Coding Phase and the System Testing Phase. (Note: The format for rounds of the Marathon Competition is similar to the format of TopCoder Marathon Matches. The rules in place for Marathon Matches as of March 29, 2010, as may be amended by these Rules, will apply to the Online and Onsite rounds of the Marathon Competition.)
The Coding Phase is a timed event where all Competitors are presented with the same problem statement. The criteria for scoring a Competitor's submission will be provided with the problem statement and may change from round to round. During each round of the Marathon Competition, each Competitor may submit one of two types of submissions: an Example Submission or a Full Submission. Each Example Submission is run against the example test cases listed in the problem statement and detailed feedback is provided to the Competitor. Each Full Submission is run against a more complete set of test cases which are not disclosed to the Competitor and the Competitor only receives a provisional score. For Online Round 1, the duration of the Coding Phase is four weeks. For Online Rounds 2 and 3 the duration of the Coding Phase is two weeks.
The System Testing Phase is applied to the most recent Full Submission for each Competitor. During system testing, each Full Submission is run against a large number of sample cases which are not disclosed to the Competitors, and is scored according to the criteria specified in the problem statement. Once the system tests are completed, Competitors are ranked according to their score on the system test cases. The score a Competitor's Full Submission receives is determined solely by the system testing.
Online Rounds
Automatic Berths - The 50 members who register for the Tournament who have the highest marathon competition rating as of Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 13:00 UTC -4 and who meet all of the following criteria will receive an automatic berth into Online Round 2:
- Competed in a TopCoder marathon competition between January 1, 2010 and May 18, 2010
- Competed in a total of at least three (3) TopCoder rated events as a member at any time
- Register for the Tournament by Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 13:00 UTC -4
- Meet all other Marathon Competition and Tournament eligibility criteria
If a Competitor does not participate in an Online Round to which the Competitor has advanced, the Competitor will be disqualified from advancing further in the Marathon Competition.
Competitors will be assigned a seed for Online Round 1 based on their Marathon rating prior to Online Round 1.
The schedule for the Online Rounds of the Marathon Competition is as follows: