2ptober Week 3: It's getting REAL

Important update for contestants: 

We are in the midst of Week 4 of the 2016 Two Point Challenge. That leaves just one more weekend to record your times (due before midnight pacific time on Sunday). But lo! October doesn't end until that following Monday.

And so. We are counting that as a Bonus Day. Meaning that if you haven't been able to meet your goal for either 2pt duration or improvement over the course of the past month, you've got one extra day to give it your best shot!

We therefore ask that your Bonus Day times are recorded in the comments no later than midnight, pacific on Monday, October 31. This is a firm deadline, as Megan and I do not want to recalculate final results once they are published.

And as a way to help you keep your eye on the proverbial prize, here's a quick reminder of our wonderful actual prizes, thanks to these awesome sponsors!

**Straight Shot Metal Smashing**

**Nerd Horse - Equestrian Art, Coloring Pages and Photography**

**Annie's Equine Elixirs**

First Place Winners for each category:

- $20 gift certificate to your choice of online tack shop (Riding Warehouse, Smartpak, Dover, etc)
- 16oz bottle of coat refresher from Annie's Equine Elixirs
- Choice of coloring page from Nerd Horse
- Bridle charm from Straight Shot Metal Smashing


Runners Up for each category:

- $10 gift certificate to your choice of online tack shop (Riding Warehouse, Smartpak, Dover, etc)
- Choice of coloring page from Nerd Horse
- Bridle charm from Straight Shot Metal Smashing

***

Ok. Onto the good stuff: Let's take a look at how the competition is shaping up going into the final stretch.

As usual, these times are scraped from the comments on either my or Megan's blogs. If we missed something please let us know! And also please note that recording a time on your own blog isn't sufficient for collection purposes.

If you have a Week 3 time not reflected here, please say so in the comments and I will update the table and charts ASAP!

Rider	Blog	Baseline	Week 3
Alli	PONY'TUDE	7:21	15:04
Amanda	Bel Joeur	0:47	3:05
Appydoesdressage	Musings from LogDog Acres	5:06	7:09
Aryelle	Horse Hack	1:47	2:03
Carey	Me Jump Pretty One Day	*3:23	*3:23
Emma	Walk, Trot, Canter, Banter	1:54	4:08
Grace	The Horseback Artist	2:20	5:25
Heather	The Graduated Equestrian	5:15	5:15
KateRose	Peace & Carrots	2:06	5:50
Kristen	Stampy and the Brain	3:27	6:08
L. Williams	Viva Carlos	2:53	15:42
Lindsey	Redheadlins	10:08	10:08
Liz Stout	In Omnia Paratus	1:17	13:27
LoveLaughRide	Grain Before Groceries	4:40	6:02
Megan	Howling Owl Farm	0:05	0:29
Monica	How to Train your Dragon	4:27	5:04
Nicole	Zen & the Art of Baby Horse Management	3:40	8:00
Olivia	DIY Horse Ownership	0:44	0:44
outofashes	One Bud Wiser	1:26	5:01
Sarah	Three Chestnuts	0:33	25:17
SarahO	Autonomous Dressage	2:25	4:02
Semi Feral Equestrian	Semiferal Equestrian	2:36	5:06
Teresa	Eventing Saddlebred Style	1:47	2:30

The charts continue to show serious improvement across the board. The average baseline for all 23 contestants was 3 min 03 seconds. For week 3? You all DOUBLED the average, which now stands at a full 6:49. That alone deserves a huge collective pat on the back - congrats!

The longest time contest continues to be dominated by Sarah, who has logged yet another monster time. Alli, L. Williams, and Liz Stout have some serious ground to cover if they want to catch up - and of course dark horse Lindsey is still technically in the hunt despite not recording a time beyond her baseline (ahem).

So I spy with my little eye a verrrry interesting final week unfolding for the title of Longest Two Point Time, and Runner Up. We shall see!

Sarah also is killing it in the longest time division (still, bc damn she is logging some serious mileage in two point!). Liz Stout is working hard to close that gap tho, and the perennial 2pt master L. Williams shouldn't be discounted either.

I'm still holding out hope for a good showing from Megan, Olivia, and Amanda tho. C'mon guys - you're all super well positioned to make big moves in this race, let's see it happen!

And. Ahem. Time for some public prodding:

Four riders still show no change from the beginning of October. Carey gets a pass bc she very unfortunately fell (puns) {too soon?} into the "broken rider" category. But Heather, Lindsey and Olivia. All three of you ride multiple horses on the regular. C'mon, what's up with that?!?

I'm either gonna need a doctor's note or a fresh 2pt time lol. Including today, you have SIX DAYS to beat your baseline time - let's see you make it happen!!! Y'all are bringing down the average haha.

***

Anyway tho. Stay strong guys. Less than one week to go. You can do it.

And I'd offer this final challenge to those of you who may not feel very close to the podium: See if you can hit the averages, either the average longest time (6:49) or the average % improved (223%). Either one is a major accomplishment!