as I see it those of us who are only reaching morning now wont win if so one was up and awake when the competition was started and found all the hearts
Well, there will be
three winners, plus it's not guaranteed that someone who finished early has won all the points. Mistakes happen easily to those who work against time.
I acknowledge your point though about the event appearing to be on a "first come first serve" basis. I would be in a similar situation as you if I hadn't dropped by the forums to see if I had any new alerts at 1am before going to sleep. Turned out I went to sleep a couple hours later than planned (thankfully it's Sunday).
Perhaps it could be recommended to announce this type of event earlier, as in a couple days before, both on the forums and in-game? Just so people are aware and can possibly make the time to participate from the very start. Unfortunately this would also give more time for those who can make use of the "exploit"
@Zzzyk mentioned to prepare for it. That is, unless the details aren't fully explained until the event actually starts. A hint that it's a race against time, as well as when and where the event is to take place would be all that is required in a prior announcement in my opinion.