I also would have thought Toronto and the rest of Canada might have wanted to get in the act.  When looking at the map it almost looks like a Canadian boycott. I don't mean that literally and I'm sure they were busy or something.  Canadian ATC is among the best I've experienced.  

Question on the rules of the contest so I'm clear and there's a level playing field for all pilots:

Can a pilot complete a leg within the first few minutes of ATC being available on the east coast giving them a clear advantage?  

Example: If one could time the first flight such that takeoff from a given airport starts before the event and landing occurs let's say 5 minutes after the event starts. The event documentation talks about flying from one ARTCC to another and landing within the parameters of the event time but it doesn't mention valid takeoff times.

Question 2: Do contest legs need to be "connected"?  The contest documentation shows each leg being connected.

Question 3: Some ARTCCs appear to have a higher point value in the lower score column, for instance ZLA and ZJX. Is this correct?

I'll also make the assumption that time compression in the simulator will not be allowed for any pilot and simulator crash recovery will be allowed for FSX users.

Thank you,
Jas