I did come in late in the game - completely oblivious. I just saw a topic and thought, "Hey, that looks interesting, I think I'll try to write something about it." I hadn't a clue what I was getting myself into - truly! I was just stretching my writing wings and somehow landed in the finals.
There are so many stories like that with everyone that participated - trying something new and then throwing themselves out there. The diversity of challenges really helps build a well-rounded experience list so that by the end of the season a person can put all those skills together into something they never thought possible in the beginning of their journey. I would imagine that goes for managing such a successful contest, too!