The Team Teddy 5K was created in Ridgefield, CT in 2020 by Teddy's mother, Kate White, due to the pandemic pausing her 2020 Chicago Marathon fundraiser for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy to raise awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Teddy, now 7, was diagnosed with Duchenne at the age of two in 2019. In place of the Chicago marathon, 12 friends got together to run a 5k in Teddy's hometown, growing from 12 to 100+ participants in four annual events. Since the event began, Teddy has been in a gene therapy medical trial for Duchenne at the University of Rochester and the family has now become Rochesterians, with Teddy's father, Justin, having been a UR graduate in 2000. Teddy's story was featured on the University of Rochester's YouTube page and his mother was in a WXXI NPR interview regarding gene therapy with two of his doctors. Teddy's family hopes to continue supporting the University of Rochester's Duchenne clinic by ongoing support of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy- the leading Duchenne advocacy, education, and research organization.
