On Saturday, August 28, 2010, Project Athena Foundation brings the AKALI® Project Athena Racing Series from San Diego to Nashville. Hundreds of women, men and children are expected at Percy Warner Park to participate in various events, from a 15K road race to a 6K team-building experience, raising money and awareness of the Foundation inspired by Greek mythology.
A resident of San Diego, Calif., Benincasa, has been a full-time firefighter for over 10 years. She is on a very unique all-woman crew, which typically handles medical emergencies and rescues, including wild fires.
The 44-year-old also competes in competitions around the world that involve ultra distances for cycling, kayaking, running and more. She has two world titles in multi-day adventure races, has finished the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii 10 times, and most recently won the women’s division of the 460-mile Yukon River Quest, a paddle event in western Canada. Next week she competes in the Missouri River 340 Race, the world’s longest non-stop river race.
But she was almost stopped from engaging in any physical activity because of a severe degenerative disorder, osteoarthritis. In 2007 she had reconstructive surgery on both hips. Just 16 weeks after receiving two new cobalt-chromium steel devices creating new ball and socket hip joints, Benincasa completed another marathon. She was back in action, but realized there were lots of other women out there who found many obstacles to getting back in action. So she got busy again and started Project Athena Foundation.
“Discovering that I had end-stage osteoarthritis in both hips was a bit of a shock, but it definitely made me think about all of those amazing survivors out there. I relied on my best pals to keep me active with adventure racing and ultra-running, and all of them have overcome serious illness too, including cancer. One day it all came together, just how cool it would be to give back to other women survivors,” stated Benincasa. “Every girl has an inner Athena who just needs some empathy and guidance to bring her back to life after medical or traumatic setbacks. So Project Athena Foundation was formed to show them the how.”
Project Athena Foundation is a non-profit organization that encourages women to not just survive, but to strive for more after enduring life-altering medical setbacks. The Foundation provides a “goddess” network, providing coaching, equipment, travel expenses, entry fees, and, most importantly, encouragement and inspiration for women who desire to unleash the athlete within. Survivors can apply for “Athenaships”, or grants, through her Project Athena Foundation, tocomplete running, walking and adventure events. In 2010, Project Athena Foundation anticipates raising enough money to help 16-plus new Athenas, an increase from four last year.
Benincasa launched the AKALI®Project Athena Racing Series to reach more Survivors across the country, by bringing events to their communities. Each stop will have a 15-kilometer race, 6-kilometer team trek and half-kilometer children’s event. The Nashville stop is the 2nd of three across the U.S. in 2010 (San Diego in May; Virginia Beach in November).
Survivors of medical or physical challenges, such as cancer patients, will receive complimentary registration courtesy of Project Athena. All other registration fees for the August 28 event ($35-$55) are 100% deductible, assisting Project Athena Foundation.
Benincasa visited Nashville earlier this summer and came face-to-face with the giant Athena statue in Nashville's Parthenon. She hopes to inspire many new Athenas in and around the Music City this year.
Get more info about the series here: http://www.projectathena.org/upcoming-fundraising-adventures/AKALI_Proje...
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