2001 IAAF World Championships In Athletics Prediction Contest
(With a new prize for the winner of the biggest group)

Our famous $25,000 track prediction contest is back! Last year it was the Olympic Trials and the Olympics. This year we've had the NCAAs, USATF and now the action is heating up with the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. (O.K. perhaps we're watering down the specialness of our contests by having so many but they seem to be very popular and we like doing them).

The process is quite simple. On the next few pages you will pick who you think will get 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each running event (including relays) at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton. Don't know much about the competitors? No need to worry we have a guide for you for the top competitors in each event (but we aren't responsible for any errors in the guide). Sorry, no field events this time. We ran out of time and have to get to a running camp by Tuesday night.

You Asked For It/You Got It
Inevitably, a lot of competitors will drop out/change events at the last minute and this will screw up the picks of a lot of you. Each time we've had the contest in the past, we've been deluged with complaints when this occurs. As a result, we've added a feature that allows you to go login change your picks up until the day that a particular event begins. This also is good because it can take a long time to fill out the picks. Now you don't have to do all of your picks at once (we know some of you actually try to do work while at the office). You can partially fill them out and come back later.

Scoring
The scoring this time will be the same as it was for our last contest:

• Each person that you correctly pick to finish in the top 3- 1 point
  (you can pick someone for 1st and they finish 3rd you still get the point)
• Each event winner picked correctly- 2 more points
• Each event picked perfectly 1st, 2nd, and 3rd- 2 more points

So all and all if you pick 1st, 2nd, and 3rd correctly in any event in the proper order, it is 3 points + 2 points + 2 points= 7 points.

The more points the better.

Now for the prizes:
$25,000 - For a perfect ballot. Yes, that's right. If you correctly pick the top three (in the right order) for each event, you'll win $25,000 cash (Payable over 5 years so we don't have to quit running - somehow each the brothers Johnson will come up with $2,500 per year to pay the lucky s.o.b.). You will not get the money if you go back and change your picks after the start of world champs on Friday. Do so up until Friday but not after. Changing your picks won't affect your eligibility for any other prizes.

1st Overall: Mystery Prize: We'll announce this prize later in the week. We'll add a $50 cash bonus for first if more than 1,000 people sign up for the contest so be sure to spread the news to your friends.

2nd and 3rd Overall: Hard-cover edition of the new book To The Edge by New York Times writer Kirk Johnson. The book chronicles the author's participation in one of the toughest races on the planet - the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley. For more info about the book or to purchase the book at 30% off, click on the link or picture. To read an excerpt from a free chapter of the book, click here.

King Of The Distances: This prize goes to the person with the most points in all of the events 800 meters or longer. Prize: A copy of the May 1971 Sports Illustrated with Marty Liquori/Jim Ryun on the cover ("Liquori Grins and Wins"). Since we live in Washington, DC and Ryun is now a Congressman, we'll try to get it autographed but can't guarantee anything.

Winner of The Biggest Group: To encourage you to get your friends to sign up, we've always allowed you to compete for bragging rights in your own group (just email them and tell them the name of the group that you created - you'll see what we mean when you sign up). Now to encourage you to get more people to sign up in your group, we're going to offer a prize to the winner of the biggest group. The winner will receive a copy of the To The Edge. As you can see, we're trying to get you to spread the word about the contest so please do so.

(Please note: For tie-breaking purposes, we'll first look at the number of gold medalists correctly chosen. If there's still a tie, we'll look at the number of silver medalists correctly chosen ,and then if need be, the number of bronze medalists correctly chosen. If there still is a tie, we'll conduct a random drawing.)

Sound Easy? Then get started.
You'll be able to login and check your scores during the contest. You need a letsrun.com login to play.
Click here if you have a login already
Click here if you need a login

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