Jason Nark The Philadelphia Inquirer

Sleepy college students huddled around their professor in a quiet campground, shuffling their feet and fending off yawns on a cool May night.

It was a few minutes before midnight, and moonlight filtered through the pines in Belleplain State Forest. Elsewhere in New Jersey’s southernmost county, other groups gathered much the same way, by dunes, marshes and airports. They stretched their calves and tightened the laces on their hiking boots. They yearned for coffee.

James Kellam, an associate professor of biology at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, monitored the time. There was no ceremony, no bullhorn to kick off the competition, just the clock.

“OK, ladies and gentlemen, it’s now midnight,” Kellam whispered. “Good luck.”

Kellam led one

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