Race pack collection brings runners into the same hall over the same two days, which sounds like an exhibitor's dream until you watch the traffic move. Runners arrive with a job to do: collect the race pack, maybe pick up gels or socks, then get off their feet before Sunday. The stands that get noticed make their offer obvious in about three seconds. The Irish Life Dublin Marathon Expo runs at the RDS Simmonscourt on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October 2026, and this guide covers how to book a stand and the display ideas that work on a marathon expo floor.

When and where is the next Dublin Marathon Expo?

Summary: the Irish Life Dublin Marathon Expo runs at the RDS Simmonscourt in Ballsbridge on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October 2026, ahead of the marathon itself on Sunday 25 October 2026. Entry is free and open to everyone, and it is where runners collect their race packs.

Event information	Detail
Event	Irish Life Dublin Marathon Expo
Venue	RDS Simmonscourt, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Friday 23 October 2026	12:00 to 19:00
Saturday 24 October 2026	11:00 to 18:00
Race pack collection closes	18:00 on Saturday 24 October
Entry	Free, open to the public
Race day	Sunday 25 October 2026, 8:45am start

Those details come from the official expo page and the event's frequently asked questions, where the 2026 race is listed as the 45th edition. Check both again before you commit to artwork, because hours can shift between editions.

The expo differs from a standard trade show because most visitors come to collect their race packs, so they are not browsing on a whim. They are in the building for a reason and they are thinking about Sunday: fuelling, footwear, blisters, recovery, travel, the charity they are running for. Many bring a partner, a parent or the kids, so a proportion of the floor is supporters with time on their hands while the runner queues.

Expect energy and expect impatience in the same person. Footfall is unlikely to be even across the two days, and the final hours before race pack collection closes at six on Saturday may feel the most rushed. Plan your staffing for peaks and quieter spells rather than treating the two days as identical. For venue access, public transport and parking, point people to the organiser's own guidance on the Irish Life Dublin Marathon site rather than assuming last year's arrangements still hold.

How do I book an exhibition stand at the Dublin Marathon Expo?

Summary: exhibition space is arranged directly with the organiser by email or phone. There is no public booking form, and stand options and rates are not published online, so you have to ask.

The route is straightforward. Email [email protected] or [email protected], or ring 01 661 2956, and ask for the exhibitor information pack for the next expo. Because nothing is listed publicly, treat your first message as a proper enquiry rather than a query: the more you tell the organiser, the faster you get a useful answer back.

Have this ready before you get in touch:

Company name, website and a single named contact
What you sell and why it is relevant to marathon runners
The stand size you have in mind, plus a smaller fallback
Power requirements, including anything that needs a dedicated supply
Whether you plan to sample, demonstrate or sell on the day
Your branding plans, including anything tall, hanging or freestanding
Staff numbers, so you can check how many exhibitor passes are included

When the pack arrives, read it for what is included rather than what it costs. The questions worth answering in writing are: is this space only or shell scheme, what furniture and power come with it, is Wi-Fi provided or ordered separately, how many passes you get, what public liability insurance you need to show, whether you appear in the event listing or app, and what the height limit is for your part of the hall. Also ask for delivery and set-up times in the same email, because they dictate when your print has to be finished.

Booking deadlines and availability are not published either, so ask directly and take the answer you are given. The expo runs every October, so enquire as soon as you decide to exhibit.

One distinction saves a lot of confusion: the organiser sells you the floor space and the technical services that go with it. Your graphics, backdrop, banners and counter come from a print and display supplier, and those are two separate orders on two separate timelines. Confirm your dimensions with the organiser first, then brief the print, never the other way round.

What stand size and layout will work best at a marathon expo?

Summary: pick the format that matches how many conversations you can actually staff, not the largest space you can afford. A well-used 3m by 2m stand outperforms a half-empty 6m one.

Format	Suits	What to watch
Compact shell scheme (around 3m x 2m)	First-time exhibitors, local clubs, physios, charities, single-product brands	Every centimetre shows. One message, one focal point, storage hidden
Space only (3m x 3m and up)	Businesses with their own display kit and a repeatable layout	You supply walls, flooring and lighting, so build time goes up
Larger custom build	Established sports, nutrition and footwear brands running fittings or gait analysis	Queue management and staffing levels, plus longer build and de-rig slots

Work backwards from your objective. If the goal is selling race-weekend essentials, you need till space, stock storage and a layout that lets people browse without blocking the aisle. If the goal is demonstrations, you need a stable surface, a power point and somewhere for the next person to wait without standing in the walkway. If you are collecting leads for a service sold later, such as physiotherapy, coaching or destination races, you need fewer square metres and more time per visitor.

Whatever the size, a marathon expo stand should carry one clear proposition visible from the aisle, branding that reads at distance, an open entrance, a product or sample area, lockable or hidden storage, a simple call to action and enough floor for people carrying kit bags and buggies. That last point is easy to miss. Runners come out of collection with a race pack under one arm, and a stand they have to squeeze into is a stand they walk past.

Think in zones rather than furniture. The attention zone is your backdrop and anything above head height, doing its work on people fifteen metres away. The conversation zone is the front metre, which must stay open: putting a desk across the front of your stand is an easy way to turn visitors away. The demonstration zone sits slightly back and to one side so a small crowd does not choke the entrance. The capture zone, where sign-ups or orders happen, belongs near the exit side so it does not interrupt the flow.

Three practical constraints apply everywhere. Keep everything inside your booked footprint, including flag bases and A-frames, unless the organiser confirms otherwise in writing. Run cables along the back or tape them down properly, because a trip hazard on a floor full of runners is not a small problem. And leave a clear route in for wheelchair users and buggies, which usually means a minimum of one genuinely open side and no clutter on the floor. Height limits vary by hall, so confirm yours before you order anything tall. Our wider notes on designing an exhibition stand cover the same ground for other venues.

Which printed displays will help my stand attract more visitors?

Summary: a small number of strong display pieces beats a crowded stand. Aim for one backdrop, one or two banners, a branded counter or table covering, and a single takeaway or scan point.

The core kit for a marathon expo looks like this:

A fabric backdrop or pop-up display for distance visibility. A seamless printed wall gives you a clean surface for your logo and headline, and it doubles as the photo background if you design it that way. Step-and-repeat styling works particularly well here, and a media backdrop wall gives runners a reason to stop and be photographed with a PB sign or a goal-time board.
One or two pull up banners for single messages: the offer, the demonstration times, the charity target. Roller banners go up in seconds, which matters when your build slot is short.
A branded counter to anchor the conversation zone. A printed counter stand gives you a working surface, hidden storage for stock and boxes, and another branded face pointing at the aisle.
A fitted table covering if you are sampling. A full-drop printed tablecloth hides everything underneath and turns a borrowed trestle into part of the stand.
Light, if your neighbours are bright. Exhibition halls flatten colour. A backlit panel such as a 2m x 3m lightbox holds its own under high roof lighting and photographs well.

Visual hierarchy is what separates a stand that works from one that is merely decorated. From the aisle, a visitor should see your logo and one benefit line, in type large enough to read while walking. Keep that top band clear of everything else. Supporting detail, prices, specifications, the sign-up prompt, belongs between waist and eye level where someone who has stopped can read it. Use strong contrast rather than subtle tonal work, because a busy hall is visually noisy and mid-tones disappear. And say what you do in plain words. "Free gait analysis" pulls people in. A clever slogan with no product in it does not.

On a small stand, the fixes are mostly subtractive. Cut your messages to one headline and two supporting points. Build upward instead of outward, since vertical space is free and floor space is not. Choose a single focal point, whether that is a lit panel, a demonstration or a photo moment, and let everything else support it. Keep the front open. If you use a QR code, give people a concrete reason to scan it, such as a training plan, a race-week checklist or an expo-only offer, and put the reason in bigger type than the code itself.

Tailor the content to the audience in the room. Recovery, nutrition, footwear, strength work, travel to overseas races and charity partnerships all land well with runners on the Friday and Saturday before a marathon. Keep claims defensible: describe what a product is and who uses it rather than promising performance gains or health outcomes you cannot evidence. Runners are a well-informed crowd and overstatement gets picked apart on the spot.

For giveaways, small and useful travels home. Branded recycled rPET lanyards are a tidy option if you want something reusable rather than disposable, and they suit an audience that notices waste.

How can I tell whether my marathon expo stand was effective?

Summary: decide what counts as success before you print anything, then build the measurement into the stand rather than trying to reconstruct it afterwards.

Set two or three numeric goals and write them down. Useful ones include qualified leads collected, demonstrations delivered, samples redeemed, email sign-ups, appointments booked, units sold and scans of a specific code. Pick targets you can count on the day without slowing the queue.

Goal	How to attribute it
Online sales after the expo	Expo-only offer code, valid for a set period
Email sign-ups	A landing page used only on the stand, reached by QR code
Enquiries	A dedicated form or a separate phone number or inbox
Message testing	Different QR codes on the backdrop, the banner and the counter

Numbers only tell half the story. Keep a running note of the questions runners actually ask, the objections that come up more than twice, the products people pick up and put down, and which display message started the conversation. Log retailer, club and partnership enquiries separately, because a single stockist conversation can be worth more than a day of footfall.

For a basic return figure, add up stand hire, print and display, delivery, staff time, travel and giveaways, then compare that against attributable revenue plus the realistic value of the leads you captured. Count display kit you will reuse at its share of cost, not its full price, since a fabric backdrop and a counter will work at several events. Our guide to measuring print marketing performance sets out that calculation in more detail.

Book a review for the week after. Follow up every lead within three working days while the expo is still fresh in their minds, take fifteen minutes of honest feedback from the staff who worked the stand, note which graphics are reusable and which need reprinting, and write down the two changes you would make next October. That note is worth more than anything else you take home.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a stand at a marathon expo cost?

Cost depends on the size of the space, whether it is shell scheme or space only, where it sits in the hall and what extras you add, such as power, furniture and additional passes. The Irish Life Dublin Marathon Expo does not publish exhibitor rates, so ask the organiser at [email protected] or on 01 661 2956 for the current rate card rather than budgeting from a figure you found elsewhere. Get the print quote separately, since display costs vary with the stand size you end up booking.

How far in advance should I plan an exhibition stand in Dublin?

Three months is comfortable for a two-day expo, and six months is sensible if you want a specific position or a custom build. The stages that catch people out are artwork sign-off and production, not the booking itself. If the October expo is only weeks away, there is usually still time for standard display print if artwork is ready, but the margin for reprints shrinks every week. Confirm your space first, then lock the artwork deadline and work backwards from the delivery date.

What products, samples or giveaways appeal to marathon runners?

Anything light, useful and relevant to race week. Runners are carrying a race pack and will not thank you for bulk.

Single-serve nutrition or hydration samples, clearly labelled with allergen information
Blister plasters, anti-chafe sachets and small recovery items
A printed goal-time or pace card they can pin up at home
Reusable items such as lanyards, wristbands or a race-day drawstring bag

Confirm with the organiser in advance whether food, drink or supplement sampling is permitted on your stand, and keep ingredient and allergen details visible. Generic branded plastic tends to be left on the table.

What should exhibitors expect during marathon expo set-up and breakdown?

At most expos you can expect a set build window before doors open, delivery slots for anything arriving by courier, a limited number of exhibitor passes, shared loading access and a requirement to remove your own waste and packaging. Do not plan to pack down before the expo closes on Saturday evening unless the organiser confirms you can. Exact times, vehicle access and de-rig rules are not published online, so request the current exhibitor manual from the organiser and plan your transport around the slots it gives you.

What should I do next to prepare my Dublin Marathon Expo stand?

Two steps, in order:

Contact the organiser to confirm your space, stand dimensions, height limit, power and delivery times in writing.
Send those dimensions and your artwork to us, along with the date the print has to land.

For the detailed planning and packing side, including what to bring and who does what on the day, use our companion Dublin Marathon Expo stand checklist rather than rebuilding the list yourself.

We have over 20 years' experience in large-format print and display, and we check and proof your artwork before it goes to print. Get in touch for a quote with your stand size and deadline, and we will tell you what fits.

Irish Life Dublin Marathon Expo Stand Ideas: Creative Display Solutions to Attract More Runners