At the outset, I would like to say that I am in awe of both the organisation and planning of the competition and the efforts of those who managed to top the leaderboard.
The following rather lengthy and tedious chronicle is just meant to provide an explanation as to why I submitted only two entries.
I only bought my first proper all-singing, all-dancing drone in July and, at that time, I was working seven days a week so I did not have time to eat or sleep properly, let alone play with my new toy or take part in any complicated drone-related photography competitions.
More recently, I have been able to use the drone at the weekend and on a couple of evenings but, when I discovered the challenge on the forum, I realised I was so far behind and that some of the tasks were so elaborate that there seemed little point in taking part.
The only reason I submitted any entries at all was that I realised, towards the end of the challenge, that I had inadvertently captured two of the challenge subjects. Given I already had the photos/footage, I thought it would be nice to get involved and that there might be a forum title/badge for taking part so I submitted my two entries. However, due to work and other commitments, I only had time to do this on the final day of the challenge. I did not expect there to be monetary awards for randomly-selected individuals outside of the top three so that had no impact on my decision to submit an entry. Also, had I won some money from the Randomizer ™, I would have felt a little uncomfortable accepting it (even if it were just £10), given the far greater effort put in by others higher up the leaderboard.
I submitted my second entry right before the deadline for the competition, partly because I was working on the bonuses for that entry until very late and partly because I thought timing the submission just before the deadline might potentially have caused a smidgen of amusement. Clearly, that was a misjudgement on my part, for which I apologise. However, I would argue that if a deadline is set, it needs to be applied correctly and consistently. If a submission is made before the deadline (even if less than a minute before), then the entry should still be accepted and judged.
The only other suggestion I would make, based on my very brief involvement in the competition, would be to have other awards or incentives (which do not necessarily need to be monetary) for competitors outside of the top three to encourage the involvement of those who have less time or simply do not want to spend every weekend of the summer waiting by the side of a dual carriageway for the right traffic to go past them.
Now, if you have made it to the end of this post, sorry about that drivel and well done - you have great stamina!