2015 Mega-Marathon recap
I’ve had a bit of an absence from Flickr lately, the reason being that I was ‘telecommuting’ to Germany. The German puzzle forum’s well-publicized Mega-Marathon took place from midnight, Jan. 2nd through 23:59:59, Jan. 4 (72 hours).
To sum up the event: within the allotted time frame, group members try to place as many pieces as they can. The puzzles can be of any size (indeed, the majority were 500 pieces or less) and the goal is simply to compile the greatest total number of pieces placed, as a group. The previous record total from last January was 91,709 pieces, and this year the record was soundly beaten with 127,962 pieces placed.
The puzzles seen here are the ones I chose for the event. I almost got through all of them: there were 105 pieces to go on the final one when, unexpectedly, the power went out at my house, 1 hr. and 9 minutes before the event’s end-time.
I didn’t pre-select the puzzles; it’s always a last-minute choice based on what size, style and difficulty I want to engage in. And as I found out toward the end, I’m not the best judge of what makes an easy versus a difficult puzzle.
This was my second marathon event. Last January, I also took part, completing 1 X 1000 piece and 3 X 1500 piece puzzles for a total of 5,500 pieces in 23 hours, 58 minutes of total puzzling time. I was especially proud of that accomplishment since I was sick with the flu throughout the whole thing.
This time around I felt very well. I hadn’t worked on a puzzle since before Christmas, so perhaps a little rusty at the outset. In 35 hours, 17 minutes total puzzling time, I placed a total of 7,900 pieces, completing 1 X 2000, 1 X 1505, 3 X 1000 and 1,395 out of 1,500 pieces on the final one.
Because of the power outage (which lasted over 3 hours) I was unable to post my final update until about 1.5 hours after the end of the event. Consequently, none of the pieces in my final puzzle were counted. (In the rules, you do not have to finish a puzzle completely for the pieces to count; you just have to accurately count the exact number of pieces placed and report it (as I found out afterward) before the end of the event.
So, my official total was 6,505 pieces.
I look forward to taking part in next year’s Mega-Marathon (they hold one in July as well, but I can’t bear to stay cooped up inside for those kind of hours in the summer). It’s a great way to ring in the new year. I had suggested that we hold a similar event here on Flickr, but I’m not sure I’d want to do this more than once a year - it’s completely draining!
Also not sure if members of the BIG group would be equipped for an event such as this: the German forum members seem to have a never-ending supply of tiny puzzles in their cabinets.
2015 Mega-Marathon recap
I’ve had a bit of an absence from Flickr lately, the reason being that I was ‘telecommuting’ to Germany. The German puzzle forum’s well-publicized Mega-Marathon took place from midnight, Jan. 2nd through 23:59:59, Jan. 4 (72 hours).
To sum up the event: within the allotted time frame, group members try to place as many pieces as they can. The puzzles can be of any size (indeed, the majority were 500 pieces or less) and the goal is simply to compile the greatest total number of pieces placed, as a group. The previous record total from last January was 91,709 pieces, and this year the record was soundly beaten with 127,962 pieces placed.
The puzzles seen here are the ones I chose for the event. I almost got through all of them: there were 105 pieces to go on the final one when, unexpectedly, the power went out at my house, 1 hr. and 9 minutes before the event’s end-time.
I didn’t pre-select the puzzles; it’s always a last-minute choice based on what size, style and difficulty I want to engage in. And as I found out toward the end, I’m not the best judge of what makes an easy versus a difficult puzzle.
This was my second marathon event. Last January, I also took part, completing 1 X 1000 piece and 3 X 1500 piece puzzles for a total of 5,500 pieces in 23 hours, 58 minutes of total puzzling time. I was especially proud of that accomplishment since I was sick with the flu throughout the whole thing.
This time around I felt very well. I hadn’t worked on a puzzle since before Christmas, so perhaps a little rusty at the outset. In 35 hours, 17 minutes total puzzling time, I placed a total of 7,900 pieces, completing 1 X 2000, 1 X 1505, 3 X 1000 and 1,395 out of 1,500 pieces on the final one.
Because of the power outage (which lasted over 3 hours) I was unable to post my final update until about 1.5 hours after the end of the event. Consequently, none of the pieces in my final puzzle were counted. (In the rules, you do not have to finish a puzzle completely for the pieces to count; you just have to accurately count the exact number of pieces placed and report it (as I found out afterward) before the end of the event.
So, my official total was 6,505 pieces.
I look forward to taking part in next year’s Mega-Marathon (they hold one in July as well, but I can’t bear to stay cooped up inside for those kind of hours in the summer). It’s a great way to ring in the new year. I had suggested that we hold a similar event here on Flickr, but I’m not sure I’d want to do this more than once a year - it’s completely draining!
Also not sure if members of the BIG group would be equipped for an event such as this: the German forum members seem to have a never-ending supply of tiny puzzles in their cabinets.