Remembering our Friend TFBubendorfer

RacoonQueen

We received the very sad news this week that long time moderator and member was involved in an accident while out running this week and sadly passed away. Thomas has been a member of boards and an active poster on this forum since 2008, becoming a moderator a few years later. He was the driving force behind many popular member initiatives and an experienced runner and ultra-runner who was always ready with advice.

Equally strong from 5k to 50k to 24 hours, be it on the road, trails, mountains or track, Thomas was out there doing what he loved. The first man to say hello and share some friendly words while mingling before or after a race. He will be well known in the small Irish ultra-running community particularly as a regular at Donadea 50k and will be known by the many who ran with pacers in the Dublin marathon where he paced several times since their introduction, or one of the many other marathons and half marathons around the country where Thomas was happy to sacrifice his own opportunity to race to help others reach their goals.

In 2015, he was proud to represent his country in the 24 Hour World Championships in Turin.

Despite the popularity of the training logs forum and other social media, Thomas stubbornly kept up his blogspot log! Something which I'm sure many of us continued to read. http://rubbishrunner.blogspot.com/

It was a pleasure, to know, moderate with and run with Thomas and his beaming smile will be sorely missed at start lines all over Ireland and both Robin and I will miss his wise, level head as part of the moderation team. Thoughts of all his boards.ie family are with his wife Niamh and their children at this difficult time, may they find peace knowing he got to do what he loved one last time.

R.I.P Thomas

adrian522

Awful news, such a great contributor.

Thanks for posting @RacoonQueen

Singer

So very sad, he was a lovely man and a legendary contributor here. I learned a huge amount from his blog and was great to chat with at various events. RIP.

robinph

RIP Thomas.

E.coli

Probably not someone that newer posters will be too familiar with but the man was one of the original driving forces behind the forums success from the early days will be sorely missed by friends and family alike.

May he rest in peace

Peckham

I first met Thomas through this forum back in 2009 and we paced Dublin marathon together in 2010. Fast forward 10 years and we both found ourselves in the same club, Bray Runners.

Over the past year or so I got to know Thomas much better through training sessions, and more recently as we chatted our way through long runs in preparation for this year's Dublin marathon - a race he won't get to run.

In person Thomas is exactly the same as he comes across through this forum. A complete gentleman with time for everyone, and hugely supportive of all runners. Thomas was part of the Shanganagh parkrun pacing team, and led the 25 minute pace group last Saturday with the usual metronomic precision that he consistently delivered.

His loss leaves a large hole in our club, but this is incomparable to the loss that Niamh, their children and his wider family are feeling right now.

The organisers of Ratoath half marathon have kindly agreed to a minute's silence before tomorrow's race, and the various Bray Runners athletes in the race will be marking his passing.

I will update this thread when I'm aware of any further events that are arranged to celebrate Thomas's life and amazing running career.

ArtieFufkin

I'm still in shock. Thomas was inspiring and a real gent. He achieved so much but was always humble and encouraging to other runners.

Rest in peace Thomas. The Irish running scene has lost a great friend.

Itziger

Christ, that's terrible news. I can hardly believe it. Didn't know the fella personally but he came across as a helpful, modest poster and runner. Thanks for the kind words RQ.

Annie get your Run

Lovely words @RacoonQueen. Such awfully sad and shocking news. So many people benefited from Thomas's wisdom, support and help whether they knew it or not. I had actually been thinking about him on a hike this morning before I heard the news. Mountains always remind me of him probably because he loved talking about trail running and encouraged so many to follow in his footsteps. R.I.P. Thomas, thank you for everything you gave to this forum and beyond.

Gusser09

Terrible stuff. May he RIP. From looking in here before i was a poster he always has something to contribute in a good way. No doubt he was shocked by the way boards.ie was migrated to an absolute dreadful platform.

Gone to soon. RIP.

Thoughts with family.

johnoregan777.

Shocked and Saddened to have heard this news today. R.I.P Thomas

@RacoonQueen Thats a very nice and fitting tribute. Hard to believe he’s gone.

crisco10

Jesus, that's awful.

Had crossed paths with him a few times around shanganagh and these parts. Always seemed an enthusiastic and helpful fella.

Kellygirl

So sorry to read that awful news today. Thinking of everybody who knew him and his poor family. May he rest in peace.

Cabaal

Logged on this evening to facebook to see the news, honestly at first I thought I was misreading it or it was some sort of weird joke or something!

Honestly very shocked to read it, the running community in Ireland will be a poorer place without Thomas and I'll miss reading his blog and advice. His blog was partially the reason why I started running Ultras and why I eventually started my own blog.

One thing that always struck me is he didn't boost about his success, even after chatting to him for about 4hours during a race hearing the different stories he was very humble about how well he did and he tended to play stuff down.

A very fitting tribute @RacoonQueen.

RIP Thomas and hope Niamh and the family will get through this awful time.

NeedsTraining

Very sorry to hear this news. I didn’t know Thomas, but I’ve read his posts here, followed the blog and admired his dedication and commitment to running.

Sincere condolences to his family, friends, club mates and the wider running community.

May he RIP

Pherekydes

Absolutely awful news. My deepest condolences to all in the forum who knew him.

RIP Thomas.

Jakey Rolling

Oh, I am floored by that news. Devastating to hear. My heart goes out to his wife Niamh and family.

Was looking forward to meeting up again at Donadea, Connemara or on the trails. Like myself he was lamenting the inevitable slowing that comes with age - may you never grow old and weary now, RIP Thomas.

ger664

I am in absolute shock on hearing this news. I have had the pleasure to know him in real life whether pacing, when he ran the 10 in 10 in Sixmilebridge or crewing for him in Belfast 24hr race. His blog was an inspiration to many on this forum, a gent on the forum and in real life and may he RIP. Deepest condolences to Niamh and his children

diego_b

Very sorry to hear this news, I had the pleasure of meeting Thomas at the Kerry County Road championships a number of years back when he was still living down here and simply a nice guy. Always enjoyed his contributions to the forum here.

Lovely tribute above, may he Rest In Peace.

ultrapercy

Very sad and sobering news. I spoke to him in person only once but we were often in contact on social media. He was a genuine and gracious man. May he Rest In Peace.

Swashbuckler

Oh no that's terrible news. So sad. Thanks RQ , firstly for letting is know and secondly for your very nice words. That news has shocked me. RIP.

DeepBlue

That's very sad news. I didn't know the man or have any interaction with him but he came across on the forum as a very helpful individual who was always prepared to offer advice and give the benefit of his experience. May he rest in peace.

Ceepo

That's awful news to hear.

RIP Thomas

Classic21

Such terrible news. I never post here but I read/snoop every day and I have always been enthralled by some of the older posters. Thomas was someone I would always look at and follow on Strava. Condolences to his friends & family

The Black Oil

Very sad to hear this. He responded to a post of mine in the Random Questions there at the end of August and of course, his blog name was so memorable. It's obvious he had quite a knowledge base about running, a presence here that went beyond typing things up and was above all was a decent skin, as evident in the posts above. Thoughts with his family.

walshb

My goodness. Desperate news. Many a friendly spar with him. Very sad, and a young man with family. Not sure if he was posting recently as had not come across his name.

Shield

RIP to Thomas and deepest condolences to his family and friends.

-Shield

Hannibal_Smith

Oh my goodness that's shocking.

Deepest condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

neilc

RIP Thomas.

Pacing Mule

I haven't been around these parts for quite some time but had to pop in to pay respects to a true gentleman. RIP Thomas

Murph_D

So sorry to hear this.

Eyeballed Thomas at the start line of Donadea 2020 and was sufficiently intimidated to not say hello.

My mistake.

Wish I had, because I know how much he contributed to the running community and the Boards community. A legend of this board.

His blog comment ‘I looked in the mirror and saw a sub-3 runner looking back at me’ will always resonate. A man to appreciate the achievement, and try to help others achieve it too.

RIP.