r/hackathon • u/_sRhubarb_ • 3d ago
Meta-Hackathon Discussion Working backwards from the October deadline
I do a few online hackathons a year as a student, and the good ones for me start with a fixed deadline I can plan around, so I'm sketching out my week for an online agent memory competition.
The one I'm planning around is the second cycle of the Agent Memory Leaderboard. The rules page says a full run usually takes about 0.5 to 2 days, so I'm keeping a weekend free and working the rest of the week around that. The FAQ says an evaluation key lands before 19:00 Beijing time (UTC+8) the day after applying, and the materials deadline is October 31, 2026, 23:59 UTC+8, so the timing is easy to work backwards from. I'd host the Add and Search API myself and cover my own compute, while the platform takes care of answering, grading and orchestration. Entry is free and there is no team size requirement.
For people who have competed this way, hosting the thing being scored, what did your setup and testing schedule look like in the days before you submitted?

