They were Ashkenazim
The two days of Rosh Hodesh Elul 5773 (2013) are Tuesday and Wednesday, August 6 and 7.
For Sefardim, Selihot starts on Thursday, August 8, 2 Elul.
Most congregations recite selihot before morning prayers. For "HaNetz" congregations, that means early. In my neighborhood, the start time for selihot is 5:25 in the yawning.
In Bet Shean c 1970, a crier would roam the neighborhood yelling "SELIHOT" to wake up the men. My wife complains to this day that the criers also woke up women and children. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, we don't have anyone banging on our doors or yelling "SELIHOT."
Do all men have to rise and shine before dawn?
There are exemptions.
Sleeping in - the conditions.
According to R. Shalom Messas in שמ''ש ומגן, IF a person is a talmed hakham - and I emphasize the word "hakham" - or if the person fears that getting up before dawn will negatively impact the quality of his work or endanger him, then he may sleep in until the Ten Days when he, along with the rest of Israel, must rise for selihot.
Because there are allowances for sleepy heads during Elul, in Morocco, typically only one synagogue in each community was opened for selihot (R. Shalom Messas in ילקוט שמ''ש)
Tallit - leave it in the bag.
According to R. Yosef Messas in הוד יוסף חי the hazan does not put on a tallit gadol for selihot - reasonable given that it still is dark when selihot are read. Unlike Ashkenazim, Sefardim don a tallit only for morning prayers (with the exceptions of 9 Ab and Yom Kippur).
Aramaic - include it or skip it (the angels don't comprehend the language, the rabbis tell us).
According to Ovadia Yosef's ילקוט יוסף, the Aramaic portions of selihot must be said with a minyan. According to R. Shlomo Toledano in דברי שלום ואמת the tradition in North Africa (Morocco, Algiers, Libya) is that minyan or not, the Aramaic is included.
What about women?
The standard answer is "women are exempt" because selihot is at a (less or more) fixed time.
That does not mean that women are prohibited from participating in selihot services; many do. They normally leave before the morning service commences.
