26: A Marathon Challenge

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

26: A Marathon Challenge
Cooperative challenge
Start date: 1/1/25
This challenge will be run on both sites!

A certified marathon course must be 26.2 miles. This race was inspired from the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Persians had landed near the town of Marathon and they planned to take Athens. A messenger was sent to spread the word and call for help.

The 1896 Modern Olympic Games proposed a long distance run between Marathon and Athens inspired by this legend. In 1897, the first Boston Marathon took place inspired by the Olympics of the year before. In 1921, the official distance was formalizes as 26.2 miles even though there seems to be no explanation as to why that distance was chosen. 2024 marks 100 years since that ruling.

For this marathon, it is all about the number 26. We will be doing a marathon of twenty sixes. As a group, we will be reading books and trying to make it to the end of a very long marathon. There are a lot of tasks we need to achieve as a collective. You will submit your completed book on the wiki link below.

Submit books here:
SS: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...


Challenge Rules:
*Books must be a minimum of 100 pages
*Books must be completed on or after the start date (use your time zone)

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Marathon Tasks



26 books by different authors
26 Fantasy Books
26 Romance Books
26 Mystery Books
26 Horror Books
26 Science Fiction Books
26 Graphic Novels
26 Game Lit Books
26 Action/Adventure Books
26 books with green covers (min 50%)
26 books with red covers (min 50%)
26 books with blue covers (min 50%)
26 books with purple covers (min 50%)
26 books with brown covers (min 50 %)
26 books with yellow covers (min 50%)
26 books with pink covers (min 50%)
26 books with gray covers (min 50%)
26 books with orange covers (min 50%)
26 books with black covers (min 50%)
26 books with white covers (min 50%)
26 books with rainbow covers (min 3 colors)
26 books from the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards
26 books from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards
26 books from the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards
26 books over 800 pages
26 books over 500 pages
26 books under 300 pages
26 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐star books
26 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ star books
26 ⭐⭐⭐star books
26 ⭐⭐star books
26 ⭐ star books

GR ONLY
26 books with over 100,000 GR ratings
26 books with GR ratings between 50,000-100,000
26 books under 50,000 GR ratings

LT ONLY
26 books with popularity over 100,000
26 books with popularity between 50,000 - 100,000
26 books with popularity under 50,000

[Sammy]

Now that I'm back on my desktop PC, I can log into LT again, so I can play along with this one as I have access to the update page. 😊

[Shan ~A~]

Will the wiki be used to record books either way?

[Catsalive]

How are we recording this? This one fits a number of categories - different author, romance, <300p, 3*, <50K ratings

Book: Two Weeks 'til Christmas by Laura Greaves
Date: 1/1 3★
Pages: 288

[Sammy]

Added my first book, hope I did it right!

[Shan ~A~]

Posted for White Cover. couldn't figure out how to add the book link on that list. It worked when I tried on the regular LB page though.
Someone teach me your ways.

Also I finished my book 01/02 ~ 306 pgs

Wasn't sure if that info needed to be posted

[Catsalive]

Book: The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry
Date: 2/1 3★
Pages: 322
Fit: yellow cover, mystery, scifi, 3*, <50K ratings

[Catsalive]

Book: The Miracle of Language by Richard Lederer
Date: 3/1 4★
Pages: 272
Fit: diff. author, white cover, <300p, 4*, <50K ratings

[Catsalive]

Book: Emergency Exit Only by Michelle Upton
Date: 5/1 3.5★
Pages: 344
Fit: pink cover

[Sammy]

Wiki is down, so dropping here in case I forget!


Blue cover, 750 pages, MPG Romance & Mystery, 4★

[Sammy]

Still down, adding:


Rainbow cover, 176 pages, MPG Adventure, under 50 k ratings

[Sammy]

Wiki back up, added both of the above books.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Will the wiki be used to record books either way?"

Yes. I will check in a few minutes to make sure all the books are entered. I am a bit behind.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Catsalive wrote: "How are we recording this? This one fits a number of categories - different author, romance, <300p, 3*, <50K ratings

Book: Two Weeks 'til Christmas by [author:Laura Greaves|8298552..."

You pick one category. If you don't specify, I will choose one of your options.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Posted for White Cover. couldn't figure out how to add the book link on that list. It worked when I tried on the regular LB page though.
Someone teach me your ways..."

Use the ab symbol at the top and paste the address of the book from LT between the brackets. At the end of the address add a space and type the name of the book before the 2nd bracket.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Wow! You guys are making nice progress on this. Keep up the great work!

[Catsalive]

Book: Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb
Date: 11/1 3★
Pages: 436
Fit: SF

[Catsalive]

Book: Miss Silver Intervenes by Patricia Wentworth
Date: 13/1 4★
Pages: 326
Fit: grey cover

[Catsalive]

Book: The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser
Date: 14/1 4★
Pages: 396
Fit: mpg horror

Book: A Girls' Guide to Winning the War by Annie Lyons
Date: 16/1 4★
Pages: 390
Fit: 4* or <50k ratings

[Catsalive]

Book: Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
Date: 19/1 3★
Pages: 502
Fit: >500 pp.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

[Catsalive]

Catsalive wrote: "Book: Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
Date: 19/1 3★
Pages: 502
Fit: >500 pp."

You missed this one, Donna.

[Catsalive]

Book: Take Two by Danielle Hawkins
Date: 23/1 4★
Pages: 288
Fit: romance, blue, <300p, 4*

Book: How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks
Date: 24/1 2★
Pages: 371
Fit: fantasy, romance, 3*, <50K GR, <50K LT

[Jayne]

Hello! I'm new to the group and would love to join. Can I add the books I have already read in January?

I can just add straight to the wiki as I am active on LT as well as GR.

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Jayne wrote: "Hello! I'm new to the group and would love to join. Can I add the books I have already read in January?

I can just add straight to the wiki as I am active on LT as well as GR."

Of course!

[Jayne]

Thanks!

[Sammy]

Site is down again so adding here in case I forget:

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

308 pages - 17 feb - 124,428 ratings


ETA: site back up, have added this one.

[Sammy]

Come on you lot! I seem to be running this marathon on my own 😆

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Sammy wrote: "Come on you lot! I seem to be running this marathon on my own 😆"

You're doing a great job of it! Thanks for helping!

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

[Sammy]

Donna wrote: "Sammy wrote: "Come on you lot! I seem to be running this marathon on my own 😆"

You're doing a great job of it! Thanks for helping!"

I've got the 500-pagers almost licked 😆

[Sammy]

LT is down again, so to add later:

- Bruce Lee: A Life - 642 pages, orange cover finished 11 may

[Sammy]

Still down, also to add:

Watermelon - 520 pages, white cover, finished 12 may

[Sammy]

added the above 😁

[Angie ☯]

I keep trying to add a bunch of stuff and I only try when the wiki is down! Lol

Will keep trying - I did get a few added!

[Sammy]

I try to keep on top of it, but I'm pretty sure I've missed a few. I do find it very useful to have this thread so I can post stuff here when it is down though 😁

[Sammy]

That's the 500-pagers done!

[Sammy]

Wiki down. To add later:

The Turn of the Key
Orange cover, MPG Mystery/horror - 337 pages

[Sammy]

Wiki still down:

Beasts of Prey
Black cover, MPG fantasy/Adventure/romance - 474 pages

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

I am well aware that the wiki is down again. I have created a spreadsheet that will replace the wiki. I will move the books from the wiki into it once it is back up. Please use the spreadsheet going forward.

As we are no longer running this on both sites, I have removed the LT tasks.

[Sammy]

Awesome, I'll start adding as soon as you're done 😁

In the meantime, dropping this here too so I don't forget:

The Boyfriend
White cover, MPG Mystery/Romance

[Sammy]

And another one:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Brown cover, MPG Fantasy

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Updated so far:

different authors
Fantasy Books
Romance Books
Mystery Books
Horror Books
Science Fiction Books
Graphic Novels
Game Lit was missing but now available in the SS - your welcome!
Action/Adventure Books
green covers (min 50%)
red covers (min 50%)
blue covers (min 50%)
purple covers (min 50%)
brown covers (min 50 %)
yellow covers (min 50 %)
pink covers (min 50%)
gray covers (min 50%)
orange covers (min 50%)
black covers (min 50%)
white covers (min 50%)
rainbow covers (min 3 colors)
2024 Goodreads Choice Awards
2023 Goodreads Choice Awards
2022 Goodreads Choice Awards
over 800 pages
over 500 pages (completed CONGRATS!)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐star books
⭐⭐⭐⭐ star books
⭐⭐⭐star books
⭐⭐star books (this was missing but is now in the SS - you're welcome!)
⭐ star books

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

All categories have now been updated from the wiki. Please use the spreadsheet going forward.

[Sammy]

Could you change to SS to give editing permission please donna, it's still set to view only (same with sprint vs Marathon)

[Sammy]

also to add

The Burning Issue of the Day
Green cover, MPG mystery, 315 pages

[Donna, Curator of Challenge Terrors]

Sammy wrote: "Could you change to SS to give editing permission please donna, it's still set to view only (same with sprint vs Marathon)"

Thought I did that. It is done now.

[Sammy]

grazie!

[Sammy]

Added all my above books 😁