In the final week of the Commonwealth Games, we teamed up with ‘bus athlete’ Adham Fisher to stage Glasgow’s first ever bus marathon.
The event was covered by BBC Alba and also in The National, where Adham Fisher’s account of the experience – “What happened when I tried to ride every bus in Glasgow in one day” – was published.
Press release: for immediate release
Glasgow Bus Marathon during Commonwealth Games to highlight public transport
The scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games have arrived in Glasgow, with many of the usual sports being dropped.
Enter Adham Fisher, former world record holder for the fastest time to tour the London Underground and the only person known to have travelled on 199 different bus routes in 24 hours. He is bringing โpublic transport racingโ to Glasgow to coincide. With the lack of a traditional marathon, he will attempt a โbus marathonโ instead on Thursday 30 July from midday, aiming to ride at least one stop on as many local routes as possible within two hours.
โIโve completed the Clockwork Orange, passed through some suburban stations and maybe taken two buses here before,โ he says. โIt will be a change to be in Glasgow and not be on a quiz show. I must also visit the Transport Museum this time.โ
He aims to start soon after midday from Buchanan bus station, and also invites any interested local people to join him.
โIt wonโt quite feel like a marathon if itโs only me doing it โ the more the merrier. Iโm aiming for 40 routes. Iโll be running between adjacent stops to catch the next possible bus and noting which ones Iโve been on. If I clear one area I could take the subway to another hub to pick up more. It might be intense, and it has the potential to be a sport.โ
Fisher is being supported by the Better Buses for Strathclyde campaign, which launched in 2023. Paul Shaw, a campaign spokesperson, says:
โWe are pleased that Adham is coming to Glasgow. Buses are the most used form of public transport here and Glasgow has the lowest household car ownership in Scotland, so buses are vital for so many in the city and surrounding region. There will be heavier patronage during the Games and all our visitors and locals should be able to use buses easily and cheaply.
โHowever, Glasgow’s bus network suffers from poor integration, sky-high fares and confusing passenger information. Adham’s marathon could shine a light on the daily difficulties that many passengers face. Our regionโs transport authority, SPT, has committed to resolve these issues by bringing the network back under public control through franchising, but the process is really complicated and it is taking far too long. We need the Scottish Government to simplify the legislative process to help get bus franchising done. This will make it so much easier for locals โ and future bus marathon participants alike โ to get around.โ
The bus marathon will have social media updates on the Get Glasgow Moving and Better Buses for Strathclyde Facebook and Instagram pages.
