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Welcome to the Predawn Runner Challenge – Weekend Edition, which is scheduled for Saturday, September 4, 2010 (note, this has been postponed a bit from the original plan of July 31). For those who are new to Predawn Runner, round one of the challenge was held a few weeks ago. In that round, the first person to finish five miles in the morning (based on local times) was declared the winner. The results are posted here.
Important Note: Due to adverse weather conditions expected in certain areas on Saturday due to Hurricane Earl, I am opening up the contest to include entries on Sunday, September 5, 2010. Feel free to enter either day this weekend.
In this round, we are going for distance. I am a big believer that being a true predawn runner includes getting it done early on the weekends to spend time with the family or pursue other hobbies. Since the weekend for a marathon trainee typically involves the core long run, this challenge is to see who can get the longest run completed by a given time of morning.
Objective: The winner will be the runner who submits the longest run (based on mileage) that is complete by 7:00AM local time. Yes, I know 7:00AM may actually be after dawn this type of year, but the winner of this contest will still have to complete the bulk of their run in the predawn. And, to be clear, the run also has to start on Saturday (so no finishing a long run at 12:01AM that you started Friday night).
Details: There are two ways to participate. First, you can join the Predawn Runner Challenge on Dailymile. Note that I will not post this challenge until the Friday before the event around noon, so as to not have results confounded by Friday morning runs. Ideally, please sign up after your Friday run and before your Saturday entry. If you participate in this manner, I should be able to easily tally the results from the challenge completion list. Please verify in your entry for that day (not in the challenge comments) that you finished your run by 7AM.
If you aren’t on Dailymile, or forget to enter there, you can post your entry here in the comments section. Please state that you completed your run before 7AM and let me know the distance. You can also post your entry on the Facebook page (as a comment on this blog entry or just a wall post).
All entries either her or on Dailymile must be posted by 9PM Eastern Time on the day of the contest. It may take me a few days to tally the results since I am not online as frequently on the weekend. Results will be announced here and on Dailymile.
Due to the work involved in checking the entries to find the winner, please only sign up if you intend to get out early on Saturday morning and get a go at it. This will make it easier to determine the winner in a timely manner. All finishers will get their name in bright lights in the results post on this blog for thousands (OK, maybe dozens) to see.
Prize: The winner will win their choice of either both mini posters (The Purist Runner or The Running Manifesto) or the new Runner’s Stein from the CafePress Predawn Runner Store. Second prize will be one of the mini-posters, also your choice. Selection of the winner is purely up to the organizer of the competition and not subject to challenge; I will do my best to objectively determine the winner from the many entries we are likely to receive. In the unlikely event of a tie, the runner who is out the door earliest in the morning will be declared the winner.
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