I suppose our hobby is related to the hobby of ground-to-ground long-distance observation. Except we don't perform the actual observation, just the math of where it is theoretically feasible :-) In my case, years ago, I did exactly the same as Tom and Ryan: I algorithmically searched for the longest sightline. It was a weekend project just to satisfy my curiosity. Then last year, Tom and I kinda connected informally over this hobby.
I'm afraid I don't have a good answer. I'm sure with future runs will get closer to you and udeuschle.de
I thought of you when we saw Colombia appear so high up in the list, I remembered that's something you'd found too.