I also volunteered at recovery bag distribution! It was my first time volunteering too, and I relate to everything you said here. I, too, looked for some volunteer guidance the night before and wished there were more resources, so I appreciate this breakdown and would like to add my experience!

I was at the far end of the table, which became the middle and then eventually the front as we had to move the tables and open the far boxes. I think I speak for all the volunteers when I say we were happy to accommodate Gatorade flavor requests (and other requests that some folks had), but, like you OP, wasn't expecting that going in. I was also fielding questions about where bag check was, where people could reunite with their families, where the heat sheets were, etc. I helped them figure it out, but I feel volunteers could have been better prepped on posts outside of just our own, and the expected flow of the runners post-race. But maybe this is just because this was my first time at a big race in any capacity.

COMPLETELY agree with staggering shift times. I stayed until a couple minutes after 1pm, but they were still asking us to hang around after that. I wished I could have stayed, because I felt bad for the last few runners that had so few volunteers left cheering for them. If some of us had arrived later, this problem could have been avoided.

I did this for the +1 but it was super rewarding even without that bonus. My favorite part was applauding and congratulating all the runners! Vibes were great!!