Happiness Soup: Dining with Goddesses

On Tuesday night I dined with 7 goddesses. Really! I did! These goddesses are members of a US based organization called Project Athena and were in Jhb for a couple of days, en route to Namibia to participate in the 5 day Namib Desert Challenge.

In Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, craft, justice and skill and after spending an evening with these ladies, I think Athena would be very proud of her earthly representatives.

Project Athena was founded a couple of years ago by Robyn Benincasa (Google her to see the most amazing photos). Robyn is an adventure racer and ironman athlete whose day job is that of firefighter in the San Diego fire department. She had her first hip replacement 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 39 and the second one, on the other side, 6 months ago.

My daughter Lisa has known Robyn for a number of years. She has met up with Robyn and some of the other goddesses at various races around the world so it was wonderful to spend time with them on her home turf. Lisa has this to say about Robyn and Project Athena:

" Two-and-a-half years ago Robyn founded the Project Athena Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping women who've endured major medical setbacks achieve their athletic dreams. As she says, "Doctors cure the body; Project Athena cures the spirit". Sometimes people just need someone next to them to help them along the trail of life.

Project Athena came about after Robyn's first hip resurfacing operation where she was helped by friends. She is currently five months out of her second hip op - yes, she truly is bionic, metal hips and all!

The six other Project Athena women running with Robyn have all made it through (or are living with) major medical issues: breast cancers, uterine cancer, spinal degeneration, osteoarthritis...

There's a valuable message that these women tell through their actions. They are ambassadors, not only for women who have undergone similar major medical setbacks, but also for everyone of us - guys and girls - in everyday life. Their actions remind us to celebrate wellness by doing the things we love, sharing it with those around us and to keep doing these things... in sickness and in health."

Project Athena's primary message is to get you back onto your athletic feet and this is achieved by support, sharing experiences and providing an environment where you can continue to achieve your sporting (predominately running) goals. Robyn’s athletic achievements are legendary and I am not sure there are many people around who can match her. But she positively glows when she talks about one of the Athena recipients achieving her goal of running 5kms in her hometown and how Kerrie (see photo), with about a ton of titanium in her spine, ran the Great Wall of China Race last year. This means so much to the Athena team – it means another athlete has overcome her major setback! It doesn’t matter how far you run, just that you are doing it!