logo

    TCO17 Logo

    Congratulations to our Marathon Champion,

    Psyho

    About the Marathon Competition

    TCO17-Marathon-About-Content

    Every eligible participant who registers for the competition will be able to open the problem statement at the same time.

    Unlike traditional algorithm competitions, the system is not necessarily testing for correctness. In the Marathon Competition, the scoring mechanism may be different for each problem.

    A description of the scoring mechanism will be provided in the problem statement. Competitors will have to understand the scoring mechanism in order to effectively compete.

    Rules


    The 2017 Topcoder Open Marathon Competition (“Marathon Competition”) will take place between April 12, 2017 and the onsite finals in Buffalo, New York, USA on October 21-24, 2017. The Marathon Competition will consist of three (3) Online Rounds and potentially a number of Lightning Rounds at regional events. Up to twelve (12) of the highest scoring competitors overall will win a trip to the Tournament to compete in the onsite Championship Round.

    The Marathon Competition is part of the Tournament, and by participating in the Marathon Competition, you agree to these rules.

    Registration

    There will be no explicit registration required to compete in the Marathon Competition; however competitors must be a Topcoder member.

    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 February 1, 2017, 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. The duration of the Coding Phase for each of the Online Rounds is 2 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

    The schedule for the Online Rounds of the Marathon Competition is as follows:

    Online RoundsStart-EndMax # of Competitors
    Round 1April 12, 2017 21:00 – April 26, 2017 21:00Unlimited
    Round 2May 10, 2017 21:00 – May 24, 2017 21:00Unlimited
    Round 3July 5, 2017 21:00 – July 19, 2017 21:00Unlimited
    Lightning RoundsAugust 29, 2017 – September 1, 2017Unlimited

    All times listed in UTC -4

    Advancing during Online Rounds

    After each Online Round, up to 30 of the highest scoring competitors [among those eligible] will be awarded points based on the following table. To get points for the round, a Competitor must submit a Full Submission and achieve a score greater than zero. If several competitors are tied for a place, they share points for the tied places (i.e. if two competitors are tied for 6th place they’ll each get (40+36)/2 = 38 points).

    TCO Marathon Matches

    Place12345678910
    Points100756050454036322926

    Place11121314151617181920
    Points24222018161514131211

    Place21222324252627282930
    Points10987654321

    TCO Lightning Marathon Matches

    After each Lightning Online Round, up to 10 of the highest scoring competitors [among those eligible] will be awarded points based on the following table.

    Place12345678910
    Points20151210864321

    Twelve (12) Competitors who will accumulate the most points during all Online Rounds will advance to the onsite Championship Round.

    NOTE: In the event of a tie for any advancing position during the Online Rounds, the tie will be resolved in the following manner:

    • The Competitor with the highest Marathon Match rating immediately prior the start of Online Round 1 will advance. If a Competitor was unrated immediately prior the start of Online Round 1, it is assumed that he/she had a rating of zero.
    • If a tie still remains, all remaining tied Competitors will advance.

    In the event that a Competitor who has advanced to the onsite Championship Round is unable to attend it, Topcoder may choose to replace this Competitor with another Competitor or to take no action in this regard (thus reducing the total number of onsite Competitors). The choice is made at Topcoder’s sole discretion. In case of replacement choice, the right to attend is passed to the next Competitor who have accumulated the most points during the Online Rounds.

    Championship Round

    The Championship Round will consist of a single round of competition lasting 10 hours. The winner of the Championship Round will be the Onsite Marathon Competitor with the highest point total during the Championship Round. In the event that Onsite Marathon Competitors are tied at the conclusion of the Championship Round, then the prize money will be distributed equally among the tied Onsite Marathon Competitors.

    Marathon Championship Round
    Marathon Competition FinalsSunday, October 22, 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

    Please note the online competition round includes 30 minute setup time.

    About the Prizes

    The Marathon Competition will award cash prizes to the Onsite Marathon Competitors in accordance with the following table:

    Onsite Final WinnersPrize
    Champion$10,000
    2nd place$1,500
    3rd place$500
    Top 50 places based on total points after Online Rounds**TCO T-shirt

    * Prize will be awarded at the conclusion of the Onsite Championship Round. Winner must be present at the onsite Championship announcement to receive prize.

    ** To get the prize, Competitor must have positive points after Online Rounds. To get the prize, Competitor must have positive points after Online Rounds. In the event of a tie in for the 50th place, all competitors with that score will earn a t-shirt.