By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

First Trek for Tourette in Lethbridge taking place next weekend

Mar 10, 2018 | 9:48 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The 10th annual Trek for Tourette, a fundraising walk to raise awareness for those affected by Tourette Syndrome and raise funds to support Tourette Canada, is taking place on Saturday, Mar. 17.

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.

Tics are sudden, intermittent, repetitive, unpredictable, purposeless, nonrhythmic, involuntary movements or sounds. Tics that produce movement are called “motor tics,” while tics that produce sound are called “vocal tics” or “phonic tics.”

Jen Siver, a spokesperson for the event, says while it’s the tenth national trek it’s actually the first walk here in Lethbridge.

“Right now, we have four teams in Lethbridge doing the trek, and each team’s fundraising goal is $100 so we’re hoping at least $400-500 comes from Lethbridge,” Siver said.

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The 2018 national fundraising goal is $100,000.

Trek for Tourette is a 5km walk held annually in March in communities across Canada in support of TS and Tourette Canada, and the local walk will be taking place beginning at 10 a.m. at Henderson Lake.

For anyone looking to sign up and walk to support TS, Siver says there are several ways to get involved.

“There’s an online registration that people can use, they can join an existing group, or they can start a new one,” she continued. “On the day of the event people can register as a whole group, or just register as a single trekker, whatever they like.”

For more information, you can check out the group’s Facebook page.

Siver says the estimation is that about one in 84 people are affected by Tourette Syndrome, and Tourette Canada reports the average age of onset is seven years old.

“It does tend to affect more boys than girls, we’re not really sure why at this point in time, and that’s why it’s important to raise these funds for research because right now there is no cure.”