Congrats to the Winners of Our First DEV Weekend Challenge!

It's time!! We are thrilled to announce the winners of our first [DEV Weekend Challenge](https://dev.to/devteam/happening-now-dev-weekend-challenge-submissions-due-march-2-at-759am-utc-5fg8). The prompt was simple but open-ended: build something for a community you're a part of or care about. What we got back was anything but simple. In just a weekend, participants shipped real, functional apps rooted in genuine personal experience — transit tools, civic platforms, fitness apps, local marketplaces, and more. Choosing three winners from the submissions we received was genuinely difficult, and we're proud of every participant who shipped something this weekend. Without further ado, our winners! 🎉 ## Congratulations To… {% card %} ### TerraRun @manjunathpatil built TerraRun for the running community around a simple question: once you finish a run, what do you actually own? Run a closed loop, and the enclosed area fills in with your color on a shared public map. That's your territory. Other runners can claim it back. The more you hold, the higher you rank — "Strava meets king-of-the-hill." {% embed https://dev.to/manjunathpatil/terrarun-a-territory-capture-running-app-where-every-loop-you-run-becomes-your-turf-ie %}{% endcard %} {% card %} ### UTMACH Rides @sherman95 built UTMACH Rides, a mobile-first PWA for the 14,000+ students at Universidad Técnica de Machala in Ecuador. Only verified @utmachala.edu.ec emails get in, an important safety feature for this community of students. The app handles the full coordination flow: publishing rides, requesting seats, verifying passengers via WhatsApp, and rating each other after the trip. {% embed https://dev.to/sherman95/utmach-rides-i-built-a-carpooling-app-so-my-classmates-stop-paying-3-for-a-10-minute-ride-162p %}{% endcard %} {% card %} ### BagichaLink @soham0047 built BagichaLink (bagicha means "garden" in Hindi/Urdu) for the plant swap community — the "I propagated too many pothos again" crowd. Scan any plant to get an AI identification with care tips tuned to your local weather, post it as Available or Wanted, find AI-matched swap partners nearby, and chat directly to arrange the handoff. {% embed https://dev.to/soham0047/how-i-built-an-ai-powered-plant-swap-community-app-in-a-weekend-2co4 %}{% endcard %} ## Prizes Each of our three winners will receive: - **$300 USD** - An **exclusive DEV Badge** - A **[DEV++ Membership](https://dev.to/++)** All participants with a valid submission will receive a **completion badge** on their DEV profile. --- ## What's Next? Join the [Notion MCP Challenge](https://dev.to/devteam/join-the-notion-mcp-challenge-1500-in-prizes-73e) happening now through March, 29! {% embed https://dev.to/devteam/join-the-notion-mcp-challenge-1500-in-prizes-73e %} Also, don't miss your chance to enter the [2026 WeCoded Challenge](https://dev.to/devteam/join-the-2026-wecoded-challenge-and-celebrate-underrepresented-voices-in-tech-through-writing--4828), in our writing category **"Echoes of Experience"** or the brand new **"Frontend Art"** prompt! {% embed https://dev.to/devteam/join-the-2026-wecoded-challenge-and-celebrate-underrepresented-voices-in-tech-through-writing--4828 %} We hope this first Weekend Challenge showed that great things can ship in 48 hours when you're building for something real. Thank you to everyone who participated. 💚