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

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, 2016, 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.

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

After each Online Round, up to 2 of the highest scoring competitors [among those eligible who have not already advanced] will advance to the onsite Championship Round. To advance, a Competitor must submit a Full Submission and achieve a score greater than zero.

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, the competitor who made their final submission earlier will advance.
• 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 another Competitor according to the following priority list (1st position in the list is highest priority, each next position is of lower priority than the previous one):

• 3rd place finisher in Round 1.
• 3rd place finisher in Round 2.
• 3rd place finisher in Round 3.
• 4th place finisher in Round 1.
• 4th place finisher in Round 2.
• 4th place finisher in Round 3.
• It will continue in this manner until a Competitor is able to attend the Onsite Marathon Competition.

Wildcard Winners

The two wildcard spots will be awarded to the two competitors who competed in all three online rounds, but did not already advance to the onsite finals, whose total rank is the lowest. In the event of a tie, the competitor with the higher rating prior to the first online round will be chosen.

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.

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

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

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