Fort Smith’s Trek for Tourette is coming back on May 25

About a decade has passed since the last Trek for Tourette in Fort Smith. Organizer Kim Bennett is bringing it back in 2025.

Bennett and her children live with Tourette syndrome, which is characterized by physical and vocal tics.

While the vocal tics tend to be what most people associate with Tourette’s, the reality is the condition manifests itself in dozens of different ways.

Bennett enjoyed running the annual Trek for Tourette – a five-kilometre walk that’s part of a national Tourette Canada fundraiser – but stopped after concluding it was “just so much work for not so many people taking part in it.”

Now, though, her boys are older and showing an interest in helping. On top of that, she has a big assist from Treyton Bird, another Fort Smith resident with Tourette’s who is excited to help bring the trek back.

For both of them, holding the event is about educating people regarding a condition that’s often misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

“People don’t really understand it,” said Bird, who was diagnosed when he was six.

“There’s so much to it. When I was a kid, there was really not too much known about Tourette’s, except for people did weird things and couldn’t stop moving. But the medication I was prescribed is for schizophrenia. Could you imagine being a seven-year-old kid taking schizophrenia medication?”

Bird says many people with differing forms of Tourette’s learn to mask their tics. His tics, for example, involve shaking his head.

“To mask that, I normally have a hat on my head. I’ll just lift the hat off, I’ll shake my head, I’ll put the hat back on. No one’s the wiser,” he said.

Spreading the word about the nuances of Tourette’s was part of Bennett’s initial motivation for holding the trek in Fort Smith, which she did at the time alongside co-organizer Linda Thickett.

“We live in such a small town and in the NWT, there is no awareness for Tourette’s. I had to do all the research on my own. The main reason I wanted to put it on was to educate everybody,” she said.

“My kids are older now. My oldest one would like to help out. And so I thought, ‘Why don’t we do it again?’ It’s not going to hurt.”

“I’ve got family that used to run Trek for Tourette in Sylvan Lake, Alberta when I was younger,” added Bird.

“I saw Kim was needing a little bit of help this time around and of course, being part of the Tourette’s community, I really wanted to jump in.”

The 2025 Fort Smith Trek for Tourette will be held on May 25. Bennett says that’s already an improvement from the last one, because the event used to be held in March – a much colder time of year – before national organizers moved it.

“I’m hoping we have more participants because of the weather,” she said. “Of course, we want to raise money for Tourette Canada, but my main goal is the education.”

Bennett and Bird have a Facebook group and event dedicated to Trek for Tourette and are now working to find local businesses and volunteers willing to help out.

“The thing we’re really trying to do right now is rally the forces,” said Bird. “Get a group of people willing to put some work in and to help us.”

Money raised at the trek goes toward Tourette Canada’s programs, services, supports and education work.