@Nynaevelan
In past runner events I used airplane mode and saved after each successful run, where I got 90 or more points. I haven't tried this one yet. I like to be in a calm mood and have a lot of tries at it.

I keep a kindergarten empty just for races and for dragons that I intend to recall.
Sorry to hear you lost the dragons, and unbreedable ones too. At least they were low rarity ones that you probably weren't using for battles?
But as a collector, I would be cross if it happened to me. Fingers crossed SP will be kind and return them to you, or at least tell you their fate

This game is not pay to win. You can get plenty of dragons and other resources for free. I have been playing for just 2.5 years and have 831 unique dragons hatched with 43 more in storage, yet have only ever bought the 3 extra islands and one sack of gems. I now own all but 2 heroic dragons, and picked up 4 of them with alliance trading. So great features do exist for FTP players.
You have to realise that many dragons do come around again, and usually at a cheaper cost than they were the first time.
I do, however, believe that SP is offering fewer good deals and events these last few months than they used to, but they are still there to be found.

@michael-lon I got 5000 at the end of my first set of videos. Is that not normal? I figured it was always the last chest of the set. Haven't done a second set of vids yet.

Well, except for this current race, where a black chest can give you a heroic dragon.

I would like to reach lap 20 or even just lap 17, but I'm so busy this week that I am hoping to just scrape by into lap 15. There are a couple players keeping pace with me so I think I'll have to do 15.

@sarv buying out leagues is cheap for gems. Waiting for fights is time consuming.

Out of curiosity, what level are you at that you consider 'high?
There are heroic orbs on sale now in the orbs shop. 1000 gems gets you a heroic, 3 new ones offered every 12 hours.
It is not terribly difficult to reach lap 15 if you have been playing for a few months and pop in to play a few times each day. Use the guide to plan ahead, use your free spins wisely, and spend a few gems wisely to skip certain items. This will usually be a cheaper gem-spend than purchasing a heroic dragon outright at whatever price you think is fair.
There is a special black friday event tomorrow, maybe some heroics will be on sale then, like last year.

I have all those dragons, the two I am missing aren't on that list.
I would settle for 2 others that are on my main battling team, but not on a 10% of a 10% chance.
This is a fail of a black Friday sale. It's like they aren't even familiar with the concept. They did it right last year, amazing prices on lots of different dragons. What are they thinking!

I actually liked the ones we had. I liked the teamwork involved, how most embers would pull together to get tasks done. I wish they would have another, even just once or twice a year.