Two brothers who are taking part in a marathon challenge across Ireland for dementia research say they are overwhelmed with the support they have been receiving in towns and villages around the country.
Jordan and Cian Adams, who are known as The FTD Brothers, are attempting to complete a challenge, which involves a marathon a day for 32 consecutive days across the 32 counties of Ireland.
Jordan, 30, and his 25-year-old brother have been told they have the rare gene which causes frontotemporal dementia (FTD), meaning they have a high chance of developing dementia in their 40s.
They are completing the challenge in memory of 12 Irish relatives they have lost to FTD, including their mother Geraldine, who died from the disease aged 52, their grandmother and an aunt.,
Jordan ran the London Marathon on 26 April while carrying a 25kg fridge on his back, before travelling to Ireland to complete this challenge.
This morning the challenge brought the brothers to Longford where they have direct family ties.
Their grandfather hailed from Drumlish, while their grandmother was from nearby Cattan and their mother's cousin lives in Ballinamuck.
The brothers, accompanied by local runners, left the Mall in Longford town shortly before 11am.
Before they left they were presented with Longford GAA jerseys.
"The support has been truly overwhelming," said Jordan.
"Since arriving just over two weeks ago here in Ireland, it's just got bigger and bigger every day, and it's gone way past any kind of estimations we had," he added.
Jordan said that they are both feeling a lot of the warmth and love that their mother spoke of when she visited Ireland.
"We've felt a lot of that warmth and the fondness that our mum talked about, about the people and this island.
"We're just so thankful to the Irish people for getting behind us."
On day 15 of the challenge, the brothers are almost at the half way point.
"I'm carrying a few injuries, a few niggles. Obviously, it's mentally very tiring as well", said Jordan.
"There's a lot of exhaustion there, but Cian is patching me up each night, keeping in my mind the reason at the centre of it all, the 12 Irish relatives that we've lost.
"And then when you come to the start line and you see the amount of people who sacrifice time out of their own day, that keeps us going, and yeah, we're just so grateful for that," he added.
The brothers hope that through this challenge they can raise awareness, spark conversation, and show others facing similar diagnoses that there is still a way forward.
"We felt like we were banging our head against the wall before this," said Cian.
"It now feels like it couldn't be any more visible and we want that to continue."
He admits they have been taken back by the support they have received travelling around towns and villages across Ireland
"The support has just blown us away completely," said Cian.
"Being two English lads, we didn't quite know how we might be received, particularly in counties that we've never visited.
"But even day one after the fridge [marathon run], we arrived in Antrim, and there was people waiting in the gardens there, and it's just snowballed since then.
"It is Monday morning, we're standing here, and there's hundreds of people here, shouldn't they all be at work," he laughed.
"It's just unbelievable. So we're really grateful for that."
The challenge is due to finish in Dublin on 28 May.
