The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon, held annually in Scotland, recently announced a £50,000 (or roughly $75,000) cash prize to any runner who gets a selfie with the Loch Ness Monster. The only other things you have to do are go to Scotland and run 26 miles.
The marathon, which will take place Sept. 27, draws several thousand runners each year (this year over 9,000 are expected), many of whom are drawn to the spot for its ties to the legendary beast.
Race director Malcolm Sutherland said the idea for the prize was inspired by the increasing number of runners stopping along the loch to take marathon selfies in the last few years. In the race's press release, he said, "With so many selfies being taken on race day, surely if she is out there someone will be able to get one with her in the background."
Runners are encouraged to submit their suspicious selfies to the official "expert panel" — the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland — which will judge the authenticity of each photograph. If you're like me, you're wondering what happens in the event of multiple selfies taken with Nessie. Most of us have seen the slow-burning swarm that occurs when someone is seen taking a selfie with a famous entity, human or otherwise: People nearby notice, and double-take, and a few of them walk over, fake-casually, and pretty soon, people are running (or, in this case, running faster). Before you know it, you have a Liam Payne situation.
In an attempt to cover the various hypothetical selfie outcomes, BuzzFeed reached out to a spokesperson for the marathon, Leanne Carter, who clarified as follows:
1) In the event that more than one selfie is authenticated: "If we have more than one person with a photograph that is verified as being a plesiosaur, there would be more than one reward provided," wrote Carter, nonchalantly.
2) In the event that more than one person is in a single selfie — or in the event of an Ellen Degeneres Oscar selfie-type swarm — Carter said, "The prize would go to the person who took the selfie and submitted it for consideration. It would be entirely up to them if they wanted to share their prize with others in the photograph." Make friends with everyone at the race and trust none of them.
Registration for the Loch Ness Marathon is open now through Sept. 7.
