Saturday, May 17, 2008

The M5K Decathlon: the Afterparty



Wow! It was a competition of truly epic proportions! No less than thirty athletes took to the field (if you include me and Phineas' boss), contending mightily for the Gold!

Props to everyone who put their best foot forward on any of the contests.

Runners Up

Looking first at the brilliant, creative, and drop-dead gorgeous decathletes rounding out the top ten! Let's give a big round of blogplause to:

#10 -- Elizabeth,

#9 -- dan,

#8 -- Fingerstothebone,

#7 -- Karmasartre, and

#6 -- Rebel.

Awesome performances all!

And the Medals!


With first place wins in Events iii & ix, and solid placing across the whole decathlon, the Red Medal goes to Cartophiliac!


Representin' the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the highest-placing contestent to miss a first place in any one event, drschnell puts together the points to bring home the Green Medal!


Placing in almost every contest she entered, la gringissima put in a scorching performance on just eight events, and still came out triumphantly holding the Blue Medal!


With no fewer than three first-place finishes, not placing any lower than third place for all of the final six events, it was very hard indeed to top Phineas. Missing the top spot only by a whisker, he brings home the Silver Medal.



That noise you hear is my teeth grinding as I prepare to say "Hail, Victor" to the woman down the hall, the City of Roses' own Mrs.5000. She won it fair and square*, and has been certified by Ernst & Ernst & Ernst & Ernst as the Gold Medal winner of the 2008 M5K Decathlon!



Afterthoughts

I want to thank everybody, for reals, for the time put into this thing. It was a lot to ask of you, and I truly appreciate everybody who took part. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

I've always been kind of fascinated with the Decathlon idea, for some reason. I thought about hosting one with really odd events (bakeoff, formal wear, treasure hunt) for my upcoming 40th birthday, but when I thought about what hell that would be for all concerned, I dropped the idea. This was the alternative, and it worked pretty well.

Lessons Learned:

1. If I was to do it again.... well, I'd only do it again at a really slow time of the year. Even at this scale, it's a hell of a lot of work to keep up with.

2. If I was to do it again, I would arrange the scoring on a more gradual curve. People who didn't score in the top few slots during the first few events felt a bit blown off the track this way, which made it less fun for them.

3. I'd have to think harder about how to encourage people to share their personal creativity (which I loved) without feeling quite so judged (which wasn't much fun for anyone). I know a few feelings were hurt a little, and I sincerely hope that there weren't more that I don't know about.

4. Well, I guess I only learned three things.

Thanks again, everybody! We now return to our regular programming.



* For all of the remarks about points going to the person who was sleeping with the judge, I don't remember getting any other offers. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying.

11 comments:

fingerstothebone said...

Lets do it again! This time, a little less history, chemistry, flags, geography, language...anything that requires me to remember anything. And more things that require me to make something up. Please.

d said...

congrats to all the winners. even though i think it was rigged. rigged i say! but don't listen to me, i barely competed.

if you do indeed do it again, i promise to be a better competitor.

p.s. did people's feelings really get hurt? or were you just kidding? 'cause, i mean, really? i don't mean to belittle anyone's feelings, but c'mon. it's not like fame and fortune were being handed out.

Michael5000 said...

Not by you, d. Not by you.

@Fingers: give me a year to rest up.

Anonymous said...

I regret missing the last few events but am going back to check them out. Unfortunately this time of year is a harried one here.

It's a cool idea though and I will certainly try to participate more steadily next time.

Now to go checkout those events! My curiosity about Thursday's answers has stayed with me!

McGuff said...

Initial entry for Dorkfest 2008: I actually studied for the M5K Decathlon.

This was a blast, and obviously a ton of work for our host. Thank you.

And I'm in awe of Mrs5K, now for two new reasons: her Platypus limerick and nailing 12 of the languages yesterday. Unreal.

Phin

Michael5000 said...

@Phineas: 1) Second entry for Dorkfest 2008: You are already planning for Dorkfest 2008.

2) I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

3) Yes, she's quite something. Why she puts up with the likes of me is one of the great mysteries.

Rebel said...

Phineas - you go ahead and study for Dorkfest 2008... I'm going work the Pandering angle.

And I'm with Fingers - if you do this again, more making stuff up, less remembering stuff. Logic questions would be good too.

Anonymous said...

Next time, how about fewer knowledge questions. More wisdom questions. Oh, and Beatles and state capitals. Thanks.

jovaliquilts said...

Congratulations to the winners!! This was a great contest. Had to drop out when I was away for a few days, but read through everything. Since I don't have to prove it, let me just say I would have had an awesome score on the history section (not so much on some of the others...). Please do it again! Much more fun than a sports decathlon. And you shouldn't trash those 40th birthday plans, sounds like a party to be remembered.

Dan Nolan said...

Many congrats to Mrs5K and many thanks to M5K for putting this on. It was grueling and awesome.

gl. said...

yes, super awesome idea! great spectator sport. :) till next year!