REM Runner: Second Annual Wake Up Narcolepsy Golf Outing

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Second Annual Wake Up Narcolepsy Golf Outing

This past Tuesday, I made a special appearance up in Massachusetts for the Second Annual Wake Up Narcolepsy Golf Outing. At 10am, over 120 golfers set out in different directions across the18 hole course at Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston. While everyone else was hard at work swinging golf clubs, I enjoyed a nice leisurely morning as official photographer.

In the afternoon, I joined up with my Dad and his law partners foursome to assume the role of official heckler. At hole 6, we stopped for some photos with the "Team Julie" sign sponsored by their law firm!

At hole 18, there was an exciting raffle/contest for an Apple iPad! At this hole, all golfers had a chance to go up against a golfing pro - the pro took three shots and if any of the golfers' shots came closer to the hole than the pro's best shot, than the golfer received double his or her chances in a raffle.

Around 3pm, everyone gathered at the clubhouse to relax with some drinks and take a look at the well-stocked silent auction before sitting down for a buffet dinner. The silent auction included such items as an iPad, Garmin, itouch, Red Sox and concert tickets, sports memorabilia, golf outings and a ski vacation! Also included in the silent auction were three framed photographs of Boston - all Photography by Julie Flygare, of course!

Following dinner, WUN leaders Kevin Cosgrove and David Gow said a few words of thanks and announced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of the golf outing. Lastly, they handed the mic over to me to say "a few words" about running the marathon for narcolepsy. A few words? This assignment was difficult for me -- it would be like asking an astronaut to say a few words about landing on the moon! Nonetheless, I did my best to pick out a few major points (stolen directly from this blog) to try and capture the experience for the large gathering of golfers and supporters.

I'm proud to report that Wake Up Narcolepsy's second annual golf outing raised over $20,000 towards it's mission. Put together with the money raised by the Boston Marathon team, WUN has already raised over $50,000 in 2010!

It is so wonderful to be a part of a group of people reaching out into the greater community to raise awareness and funds for narcolepsy. After witnessing the incredible growth of WUN in the last year and a half, I'm convinced that there are no limits to what a small group of motivated people can accomplish.

Below are are few pictures from this year's outing. Already looking forward to next year's! I'm thinking next year, I'll participate as an official "golfer." This is about as scary to me as running a marathon - but I suppose if I'm willing to run a marathon for narcolepsy, I ought to be able to try golfing!