We're capping Women in Adventure Week off by interviewing Robyn Benincasa. She is an elite adventure racer, philanthropist, firefighter, endurance paddler and cyclist, and all around amazing woman. Here's what she had to say...

You grew up in Arizona, how did that affect your love for the outdoors?

The funny thing is that I was a private club gymnast and springboard diver at ASU when I lived in Arizona, so I wasn't an outdoor athlete at all. I had become intrigued by the Ironman Triathlon as a kid, though, when my gymnastics coach and mentor, Stormy Eaton, was training for Kona in the mid 80s. He took us for some long runs and hikes in our off season, and even took us to Havasupi Falls in the Grand Canyon. I think I liked the hiking more than the gymnastics! When I graduated from college my job brought me to Encinitas, CA, the hub of the triathlon world. It was pretty easy to take my background and apply it to a new sport with so many cool people around to play with.

Probably ocean paddling or road cycling. I also love to run, but with my new resurfaced hip, I'm a wee bit slower (and consequently, have a lot mote fun with my friends).

No way! I'm doing EVERYthing I had ever dreamed of doing. Aside from still making my way (with a little help from my teammates) through some of the most amazing and intense Adventure Races on earth after 15 years in the sport (still love it and can't seem to quit!), I am a full time firefighter for the City of San Diego, I run a small corporate teambuilding company called World Class Teams (where I impart the teambuilding lessons learned in AR to a corporate setting), and I'm directing a non-profit foundation that my pals an I have founded, called Project Athena (www.projectathena.org), to help women with medical/traumatic setbacks live an athletic or adventurous dream as part of their recovery. I've also recently branched out into two new sports that I'm digging, ultra cycling and endurance paddling. I'm two weeks, I'll be racing in a mixed tandem boat in the 256 mile non stop Texas Water Safari down the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers, followed 24 hours later by the Race Across the West, a 1038 mile road bike race from Oceanside, Ca to Taos, NM, tag teaming it all the way with my Team Project Athena teammate and uber-pal, Florence Debout. And of course, there's my honey bunny, Jeff Akens, another San Diego Firefighter, who is my best friend and support crew for life. I'm afraid I'll always be like this, albeit at a slower pace.

I pretty much train year round, emphasizing certain sports based on our upcoming races. I average 20-25 hours of training per week, I suppose, with slightly more or less depending on what's on the calendar. Hard for me to take a day off, but when I'm at work at the fire station, I only get a coupla hours of training in, so those are my easy days. Before I big AR, I generally throw in a shorter race about 6 weeks out as a test to see where my weaknesses are. So many sports, so little time. . I'm kind of a specialist at being highly mediocre at lots of different things.

Hmmmm. I've been searching for the right bike seat for my silly long road riding days in prep for the Race Across the West, so I'd have to say that my favorite piece of gear that I *just* picked up is a WTB Devo bike seat. My very favorite pieces of race gear, though, are my thin balaclava, my Merrell Cruise Controls, my Epic Paddle, my Ellsworth Truth mtn bike, and my Mysterioso tights. Oh yeah, and my blow up paddling seat. Can't live without any of em'.

Project Athena, of course! We are really changing lives, one amazing Survivor at a time. Recently, we took a 2x Breast Cancer Survivor, Sara Jones, to run with us in the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica (2/09), and last month, we sent one of our "Athenaship" recipients, an inspiring woman named Kerri Larsen who has a degenerative spinal condition, to run the Great Wall Marathon in China. Our Project Athena teammate, Melissa Cleary was by her side every step of the way (5250 stairs, to boot) , and they even finished right in the middle of the pack. Its incredible to watch these women change their mental 'status' from Survivor to Athlete right before our eyes. What a gift to be able to help. If anyone out there would like to be a part of Project Athena and help us raise money to help other Survivors live their dreams, we have a few spots left on our next Fundraising God/Goddess Adventure, a Rim to Rim to Rim trek (52 mi) in the Grand Canyon Sept 30-Oct 4th. For more info, go to www.projectathena.org.

Woo hooo! Xo Robyn

Robyn's Connections
Minister of Dreams, Project Athena
Captain, Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure Racing
Director of Fun, World Class Teams

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