The FTD Brothers – By the Numbers – Runner’s World, Sept 2026 issue
Jordan Adams, from Redditch in the Midlands, ran this year’s London Marathon with a fridge on his back. ‘The fridge symbolised the burden that we carry as genetic carriers of a rare disease,’ he says. ‘Having experienced it as a carer and as a son, and having to live with the knowledge that that’s your future, is incredibly difficult.’
Jordan and his younger brother Cian have both been confirmed as carriers of the same gene that killed their mother in middle age from Early-Onset Frontotemporal Dementia. The fridge run was only the beginning of a fundraising challenge that saw ‘The FTD Brothers’ carry on to run a marathon every day in each of the 32 counties of Ireland, where their mum’s family is from. With their passionate cry of ‘F*** Dementia!’ they went increasingly viral on social media and in real life as the month progressed, culminating in crowds thousands strong gathering to watch them finish the challenge in Dublin’s Merrion Square Park.
‘The level of coverage and support is way beyond anything that we could have imagined. It’s very overwhelming, and we’re feeling a lot of pride and gratitude for how it unfolded,’ Jordan says. ‘My head’s spinning now with so many things. We have a lot of hard work still to do to make sure we make the most of what we’ve built.’
32
Irish county marathons, starting in Antrim on 27 April and finishing in Dublin on 28 May.
864.6
Total miles covered, including the London Marathon the day before the Ireland challenge started.
25kg
The weight of the fridge Jordan carried on his back during the London Marathon.
£1.94 million
Donations raised for Alzheimer’s charities from the Ireland challenge at the time of writing.
312,000
Number of new followers the FTD Brothers gained on Instagram since they started the Irish challenge, up from 370k to 682k.
3:48:42
Jordan’s fastest marathon time during the challenge, surprisingly clocked on day 32, in Kildare.
11.8%
Percentage of all deaths in the UK in 2024 that were due to dementia, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
52
Age of Jordan and Cian’s mum Geraldine when she died from Early-Onset Frontotemporal Dementia in 2016. ‘It was so special to go back to Longford and Leitrim particularly, where her family is from,’ says Jordan.
12
Number of carriers of the gene in Jordan and Cian’s immediate family who have so far lost their lives to Early-Onset Dementia.
23
Jordan’s age when he received the diagnosis that he too would get Early-Onset Dementia. He’s now 31.
6.5 weeks
The amount of time Jordan’s dog had to wait between walks with its owner.
‘Loads’
The uncountable number of bagels consumed by the brothers across the month.
3
Official letters of recognition: from Prince William, the UK Government, and the President of Ireland.
2
Marathons completed by younger brother Cian: London and Belfast. For the rest of the challenge he averaged between 10k and a half marathon a day.
1
Huge blister. It developed a social media following of its own while Jordan debated whether to pop it.
