I've never taken part in a Hackathon but I thought it was all about building something. Creating a story seems very much like fluff. That's not something I would be interested in
As hackathons started giving away bigger and bigger prizes the participants more and more join to won said prizes.
The Judges only get to judge what you present, so what you present becomes the most important aspect of the hackathon.
You don’t need to build a solution to present it.
And here we are.