diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index f69905b..777b406 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ set -ev
 export PATH=$PATH:~/.cargo/bin:$GOROOT/bin
 
 run_from_diff() {
-    echo "$1" | grep "day-" | cut -d "/" -f1 | cut -d "-" -f2 | sort | uniq | xargs -I{} ./aoc run -fntd {}
+    echo "$1" | grep "day-" | cut -d "/" -f1 | cut -d "-" -f2 | sort | uniq | xargs -I{} ./aoc run --timeout 1 -fntd {}
 }
 
 run_from_inputs() {
-    for day in $1; do echo "$day"; done | sort | uniq | xargs -I{} ./aoc run -fntd {}
+    for day in $1; do echo "$day"; done | sort | uniq | xargs -I{} ./aoc run --timeout 1 -fntd {}
 }
 
 # Note: we cannot use "git branch --show-current" as GitHub rewrites the history in actions
diff --git a/day-18/part-2/th-ch.py b/day-18/part-2/th-ch._py
similarity index 100%
rename from day-18/part-2/th-ch.py
rename to day-18/part-2/th-ch._py
diff --git a/leaderboard.sh b/leaderboard.sh
index 04c125f..fd5b98a 100755
--- a/leaderboard.sh
+++ b/leaderboard.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ set -ev
 # source $HOME/.cargo/env
 export PATH=$PATH:~/.cargo/bin:$GOROOT/bin
 
-./aoc run --all
+./aoc run --all --timeout 1
 
 # Upload the content of leaderboard to the web.
 netlify deploy --prod --site cs-advent-of-code-2024 -d leaderboard --auth $NETLIFY_AUTH
diff --git a/tool/AOC.py b/tool/AOC.py
index 7819b8f..1a4bf45 100644
--- a/tool/AOC.py
+++ b/tool/AOC.py
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ def run(argv: list[str]) -> None:
             action="store_true",
             default=False,
         )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--timeout",
+            help="max duration per script in seconds (default to 1s)",
+            default=0,
+            type=int
+        )
 
         args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
@@ -115,6 +121,7 @@ def run(argv: list[str]) -> None:
             args.restricted,
             args.expand,
             args.times,
+            args.timeout,
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/tool/run.py b/tool/run.py
index a07473c..905bb74 100644
--- a/tool/run.py
+++ b/tool/run.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import sys
 import time
+import signal
 from collections import defaultdict
 from typing import Mapping
 
@@ -19,11 +20,19 @@
 class DifferentAnswersException(Exception):
     pass
 
-
 class UnexpectedDebugLinesException(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+class TooLongException(Exception):
+    pass
+
+def maxDurationHandler(signum, frame):
+    raise TooLongException("Submission ran for too long")
+
+signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, maxDurationHandler)
+
+
 def run(
     days: list[int] | None,
     parts: list[int] | None,
@@ -36,6 +45,7 @@ def run(
     restricted: bool,
     expand: bool,
     print_time_dist: bool,
+    timeout: int,
 ) -> None:
     problems = discovery.get_problems(days, parts, all_days_parts)
     printed_day_header: set[int] = set()
@@ -63,18 +73,22 @@ def run(
                 if restricted and input.author != submission.author.split(".")[0]:
                     continue
                 try:
+                    # Start timeout timer
+                    # if it's 0 (default, will be a no-op)
+                    signal.alarm(timeout)
                     result = run_submission(
                         problem, submission, input, previous, no_debug
                     )
+                    signal.alarm(0) # Stop the timer
                     results_by_author[submission.author].append(result)
                     results_by_input[input.author].append(result)
                     previous = result
                 except (DifferentAnswersException, UnexpectedDebugLinesException) as e:
-                    errors.append(
-                        f"{BColor.RED}ERROR: {e}{BColor.ENDC}".format(
-                            BColor.RED, e, BColor.ENDC
-                        )
-                    )
+                    errors.append(f"{BColor.RED}ERROR: {e}{BColor.ENDC}")
+                except TooLongException:
+                    errors.append(f"{BColor.RED}[{submission.author}] day-{submission.problem.day}/part-{submission.problem.part} ({submission.language}){BColor.ENDC}: Maximum of {timeout}s reached (on input {BColor.BLUE}{input.author}{BColor.ENDC})")
+                finally:
+                    signal.alarm(0) # Stop the timer just in case
 
         for submission in submissions:
             if submission.runnable is not None: