Clovis Unified superintendent running NYC Marathon to raise awareness about daughter's illness

Friday, November 1, 2024 6:09AM PT
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- For months now, Clovis Unified Superintendent Dr. Corrine Folmer has been putting miles on her feet to prepare to run the New York City Marathon.

"It's a lot of early weekend runs, early morning runs, or late night runs." Dr. Folmer said.

She was a runner in her youth and, years ago, took part in half marathons.

"I don't know that a marathon was ever on my bucket list, I'll just say that, but the cause and who we're running for absolutely is our purpose and drive, and so we feel honored," Dr. Folmer said.

That purpose is her daughter, Sydney.



She's a freshman at Clovis East High School.

Sydney was diagnosed with narcolepsy at the age of 9.

According to the Narcolepsy Network, it's "a sleep disorder, involving irregular patterns in Rapid Eye Movement or "REM" Sleep and significant disruptions of the normal sleep/wake cycle."

"There's nothing you can do to get around like the tiredness that you get during the day. It's just, it's just there and you have to deal with it," Sydney said.

Sydney will live with the disorder for the rest of her life. But she's taking medication to manage it and learned to advocate for herself.



"I've learned to, obviously ask my teachers for help," Sydney said. "Luckily, I have amazing friends and so they're always willing to share notes and help me with homework."

So when the "Narcolepsy Network" reached out to the Folmer family to see if they'd like to fundraise for the organization and run as a family in the New York City marathon, they said yes.

Dr. Folmer, her husband Matt, and her sister-in-law will be among the thousands of people running across the New York City burrows on November 3.

The training process has even given a glimpse of what it's like to live with narcolepsy.

"You hit these energy bottoms where you're kind of like 'Can I do this? I'm exhausted.' And the reality is, Sydney wakes up feeling like this every day," Dr. Folmer said.



Dr. Folmer says rather than a finish time goal, her goals include raising awareness, helping Sydney find someone else her age who is going through the same thing and showing her daughter she has a strong support system.

"My goal is not to be swept off the course, to finish on my own two feet and to make my daughter proud," Dr. Folmer said.

The family is already in New York City. They'll be meeting for a conference with the organization on Saturday before hitting the start line on Monday. Sydney will be there cheering them on.

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