Like London, Berlin is filled to the brim with history. What’s more interesting is the way that many of these historical sites are often inaccessible to the public, and for the most part, not even used by the city of Berlin itself. When our product owner, talked about the Tempelhof Airport being opened for the registration parts of the Berlin marathon, I thought it’d be a great time to see the interior the building and see what it was all about.

The building itself is normally closed during the operation, but its hangers are often used for big events such as the Berlin marathon that attracts more than 40, 000 registrants to run it it. It attracts a huge number of visitors even just as spectators, and of course, as a result, many sponsors who want to showcase their wares. In a clever arrangement, as a person picking up their kit, you have to walk through two huge hangers filled with sponsor’s stuff (and of course lots of sales and equipment to buy) before you can pick up your kit. And of course, you have to walk past more on the way out. As one would expect here in Germany, it was all very efficiently and effectively run.

It was great to see the interior to the airport itself. It felt surprisingly modern or not as outdated as I thought it would feel. It was also the easiest time I’ve had to get through any type of security, simply paying €2 to get entrance into the whole event.

Here’s a picture above of a marathon record holder who also beat my time for the half marathon, effectively doing more than half my pace. Insane!

I couldn’t really believe how big the entire event was either, with the entire registration area attracting several cafes and restaurants and working to fill two or three different airplane hangers with merchandising, advertising and basically everything a running enthusiast would care for.

I’m really glad that we could go inside and see what it was all about. I’d highly recommend you go if the opportunity arises as wel.