Topcoder Marathon Match Tournament 2026
Topcoder, Inc.
📌About the Event
The Topcoder Marathon Match Tournament 2026 is a long-format global programming competition designed for developers, data scientists and competitive programmers who enjoy solving complex, open-ended optimisation problems. Participants compete in multiple Marathon Matches, repeatedly improve their solutions and earn leaderboard points based on their performance. The 12 highest-ranked competitors will qualify for an online 24-hour Championship Round.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Competition type: Competitive programming, algorithmic optimisation and data science competition
- Mode of conduct: Completely online
- Tournament duration: June 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027
- Format: A series of tournament-eligible Marathon Matches conducted throughout the qualification period
- Number of qualifying matches: Topcoder plans to conduct at least six eligible Marathon Matches.
- Championship qualification: The top 12 participants on the cumulative tournament leaderboard will advance to the final round.
- Championship format: A single 24-hour online coding round, including an additional 30-minute setup period.
- Registration process: Participants must create a Topcoder account and register separately for every Marathon Match they wish to enter.
- Problem format: Participants solve open-ended problems that may have several possible approaches rather than one fixed correct answer.
📅 Important Dates
- Tournament qualification period begins: June 1, 2026
- Marathon Match 165: June 17–24, 2026, starting at 2:00 AM EST
- Marathon Match 166: August 5–12, 2026, starting at 2:00 AM EST
- Marathon Match 167: September 23–30, 2026, starting at 2:00 AM EST
- Marathon Match 168: November 4–11, 2026, starting at 2:00 AM EST
- Tournament qualification period ends: March 31, 2027
🎯 Eligibility & Rules
- Eligibility:
- Participants must be registered Topcoder members.
- Applicants must be at least 18 years old and must have reached the legal age of majority in their country of residence and citizenship.
- Indian students and professionals meeting the age and Topcoder account requirements are eligible to participate.
- Residents of certain restricted jurisdictions listed in Topcoder’s terms are not eligible unless an individual competition specifies otherwise.
- Each participant may operate only one Topcoder account.
- Participants must register separately for each eligible Marathon Match.
- Only matches whose submission periods open and close between June 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 will count towards the tournament leaderboard.
- Tournament-eligible matches will be identified on Topcoder’s active challenge listings.
- Collaboration, account sharing, plagiarism, unauthorised code use and other forms of cheating are prohibited.
🏆 Benefits for the Participants
- Champion: US$6,000 cash prize
- Second place: US$2,000 cash prize
- Third place: US$500 cash prize
- Fourth to eighth place: US$200 cash prize for each finalist
- Total listed Championship cash prize pool: US$9,500
- All 12 finalists: Official tournament T-shirt