Participated in the marathon as my first international race. I'm used to expos and races being very…read moreorganized and full of fun experiences in the US. Unfortunately, Berlin didn't live up to the same hype. The expo is held at Templhof Airport, Once you enter, continue down to the end of the hall and go outside and down steps to get in a long line. They have food trucks set up outside. If you don't have your QR code printed, you can go to a tent, and they can look you up and print one for you. You will need this QR code to enter the line outside. After you are scanned, and your passport or ID is checked proceed forward to get a wristband. This band should stay on you until you complete the race. Finally, just as you enter the expo, you'll get a participant bag. This bag had a tiny packet of protein balls, a tiny bar of soap, and a sample of prebiotics. Nothing else. Inside you'll pass table after table selling items. There are no free samples of anything. After passing three rooms of items for sale, you'll get in line to finally get your bib. Make sure you have your ID ready. They will provide safety pins if needed, but no bag (unless you opted for bag check). You will also get a tracker to lace into your shoe (vs a tracker on the back of the bib). There is no finisher shirt, or anything extra provided as a participant. If you choose to volunteer at the expo, they will provide a shirt with TEAM in big letters on the back. Make sure you're on time for your shift or you may get yelled at. They provide "lunch" which is a sandwich, drink, dessert, and candy. If you're vegetarian, there likely won't be a sandwich for you and a bit challenging to find an English speaker. Apparently, you get paid a small amount for volunteering. The expo only had one real photo opp location, which had a long line full of impatient people should someone take more than 5 minutes to take a photo. There was no volunteer there to regulate the line or help take photos. The shopping for official gear becomes a frenzy as people make a mad dash to buy up all the gear they can. I'd go to the expo early to ensure you get the size you want. I didn't see items for sale online or anywhere else. So if you see something you want, that's the time to buy it. Pricing is expensive as expected with shirts ranging from 30-40 EUR each and jackets ranging from 80-120 EUR.
None of the volunteers or security we asked had any clue as to where the start was day before the race. On race day, I stopped by the bag drop because I heard this was the last spot for restrooms. I exited the area and went where letters were posted around the corner. Once again asking volunteers where the start was. An info desk told me the start was 2km away, when in reality it was just a little further from the bag drop area.
The race route is flat. You won't find restrooms often and it takes a while before the first water station. Oddly, they give water and tea for hydration and not Gatorade. Some stations were giving peeled banana halves or sliced apples. It would be better if the peels were on these given the number of hands touching the bananas and them sitting out in the open. Very late into the run they have one station giving Maurten gels. I didn't try this, but from what I heard...it was a sugary slime and a friend got diarrhea from it. I'd suggest only using the gels you trained with, and your stomach is used to. They have camera folks out, but you can hardly spot them as they don't wear any uniform. Often, they were just standing and rarely taking photos of runners. Once you run through Brandenburg Gate you are close to the finish and getting your medal. There are zero backgrounds set up to take a photo with your medal. You'll get a recovery bag (water, chocolate croissant, chocolate bar, pretzels, and an apple) and then continue further down to get your poncho (if you didn't do a bag drop). This is a bit unorganized because after getting your recovery bag and poncho, you must backtrack to use the restrooms, showers, or take a photo with some background. The only real background is against the fence with the race title. Finally, as you exit, they give beer. Before exiting be sure to turn in your shoe tracker. Once you're out, it's a little challenging to find directions to medal engraving. Luckily, I pre-paid for this so didn't need to carry cash. Finally found the tent, which is not labeled nor did any volunteer staff really know where it was. Engraving took 15 minutes and must be done that day. After a few days you'll get an email about photos. It was $35 EUR for all digital photos and another $10 EUR if you want video.
Overall, the race could use more organization and runner support. Add a participant shirt, set up photo opp locations for finishers, offer samples at the expo, give Gatorade vs tea on the race route, have more restrooms available on the run, and give clear direction on where runners should report to start the race.
