Resuming my running journey: Remembering Thomas

I’m back blogging after an absence of approximately ten years (where did that go). My former blog, For The T-Shirt, was launched at the start of my long-distance running journey in 2009 and was essentially a motivational tool for me. 

I was training for my first marathon at Loch Ness. It was because of that blog that I connected with Thomas Bubendorfer (pictured above) after I put out a call to anyone who had run the race previously. Thomas got in touch and shared his insights about the marathon. It would become a 13-year friendship once we discovered we were (then) long suffering Manchester City supporters.

Thomas, married to Niamh and a father of four, was tragically killed whilst out running in Spain in September 2022 after being struck by a car as he waited to cross the road. 

Apart from being a brilliant blogger via his http://rubbishrunner.blogspot.com channel, he was a gentle giant in the Irish running community who went from starting as a 4-hour marathoner to World Championship entrant for his native Austria. Definitely not rubbish, but that was Thomas, always modest and an inspiration to many. 

I ran the 2014 Cork city Marathon with Thomas and we watched City together. I took the photo (above) in Blackpool before we went to a City match in 2016.

I was in Ireland in September for the Run for Thomas annual memorial run where Niamh, family and friends, and members of the Bray running community celebrate Thomas’s memory. So I as resume my own blog about running, I remember Thomas fondly. 

I’m located in the west of Scotland. In this 15-years later blog, I am getting back into running after a lengthy 30-month layoff following a problematic immune response following my second bout of Covid. My last marathon was in 2017 in Tokyo. I resumed running on August 3rd and am slowly building both mileage and long runs. I’m feeling good again. 

I have no idea where I’m at as a runner. The days of improving marathon times are in the past due to my age. After 25 marathons, I’ve accepted that I am slowing as a runner so for now I’m enjoying my running and good health. I have a confirmed race entry on 23rd August 2025 in the Helsinki Marathon. For now I am not setting target times. I will live in the moment and see where this ends up. 

You are invited to follow my progress over the winter months as I run mostly in the Scottish wind and rain in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.