13th annual Double Helix Dash 5K and 1-mile twilight run

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology will host the 13th annual Double Helix Dash 5K and 1-mile twilight run on April 2 at 5:30 p.m. The Double Helix Dash 5K will begin at 601 Genome Way, loop through Cummings Research Park, and return to HudsonAlpha’s campus by way of a scenic pathway designed to look like the double helix, the twisting ladder shape of DNA. The twilight run will begin and end in front of the Institute at 601 Genome Way.

The Double Helix Dash is a unique mid-week race that brings together runners, walkers, and supporters from across the Huntsville community to help HudsonAlpha raise funds and awareness for the Institute’s childhood genetic disorder research programs and the Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine. 

Every year, two out of every 100 children are born with an intellectual or physical disability or delay. Thousands of families in Alabama are impacted by these struggles. HudsonAlpha’s life-saving research, led by HudsonAlpha Faculty Investigator Greg Cooper, PhD, and his lab, help hundreds of children with these conditions to find answers to their undiagnosed diseases and enables physicians caring for these children to prescribe more effective treatments.

The race also supports the Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine, a nonprofit medical clinic established to diagnose patients with undiagnosed and misdiagnosed diseases. Adult and pediatric patients are seen by a clinical geneticist who evaluates their symptoms and determines whether genetic testing is appropriate. The data found from those tests is interpreted to identify variants or changes in the DNA linked to disease.

You can find the registration for the 5K and 1-mile twilight run at doublehelixdash.org. Registration is available for individuals and teams, and donations in support of the race are also accepted. Prizes for the top three times will be awarded after the 5K. The cost to participate is $25 for the 5K and $15 for the 1-mile twilight run if participants register for early bird pricing by March 4. Afterward, the cost for the 5K is $35 and $20 for the 1-mile run. All proceeds benefit HudsonAlpha’s childhood genetic disorder research programs and the Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine.