diff --git a/rules/preprocessing.snakefile b/rules/preprocessing.snakefile
index 3cbb2b55..2020861e 100644
--- a/rules/preprocessing.snakefile
+++ b/rules/preprocessing.snakefile
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ rule download_participants:
         group = config["DOWNLOAD_PARTICIPANTS"]["GROUP"],
         ignored_device_ids = config["DOWNLOAD_PARTICIPANTS"]["IGNORED_DEVICE_IDS"],
         timezone = config["TIMEZONE"]
+    priority: 1
     script:
         "../src/data/download_participants.R"