Robyn Benincasa
Robyn Benincasa was born in Long Island, NY, but spent most of her youth in Tempe, AZ, where she competed at the state and national level in gymnastics, diving, and cross country. After graduating from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Marketing, Benincasa accepted a pharmaceutical sales job in the San Diego Territory and earned honors as “Rookie of the Year” in 1990.
Benincasa was shortly thereafter caught by the triathlon bug , and ultimately went on to complete six Ironman races, with two podium finishes in her age group in Kona, Hawaii. By 1995, however, she was really really tired of triathlon AND wearing panty hose to work, so she embarked on a mission to live her dreams of becoming an adventure racer and firefighter.
In the past 10 years, she has completed over thirteen “expedition length” adventure races (7-10 days, non stop), and has earned World Champion honors in both the Eco-Challenge (Borneo, 2000) and the Raid Gauloises (1998). Ever in search of a way to “spread the luuuuuuv”, Benincasa launched World Class Teams in 2000, with the hopes of bringing her unique and inspiring perspective on teamwork to the corporate world.
In the past 5 years, her “8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy” keynotes, training seminars, and outdoor AdventureTeambuilding challenges have been embraced by Starbucks, Tony Robbins, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Aramark, Honda/Acura, Timberland, Earthlink, and Fast Company Magazine.
She also accepts full blame for inspiring some of her corporate clients to do insane things like climb mount kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, or (gasp!) start their own adventure racing teams. “It’s a tough job”, Benincasa says, “But someone’s gotta do it”.
The 15 Ways to Tell You’ve Become a True Adventure Racer *You consider Ironman a sprint race
*Your medical records are on file with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta
*Your parasites are complaining that they have parasites
*You’ve begun to name your scars after their country of origin
*You own at least three pairs of your favorite racing shoes—large, extra large, and waterski
*Your race diet consists mainly of foods from the “O’s” food group (cheetos, doritos, oreos, rolos, tostitos)
*You start reading all rules and instructions in your daily life with an eye toward finding the loopholes
*The entry forms for your races include boxes to check off for typhoid, yellow fever, rabies, hepatitis and tetanus shots
*You love the prospect of sharing a sawed-off toothbrush with three of your closest friends
*You think an MRE is a gourmet meal
*You cut the zippers off of your backpack, the drawstrings out of your pants, and the liners out of your shorts because they’re just too heavy
*You laugh when the sales person at the outdoor store tries to show you “waterproof” shoes
*You feel very alone when you don’t have at least 3 people within 100 feet of you
*You’ve lost at least part of one toe to frostbite and one lunch to a tropical disease—all in one race
*You have a shrine to the inventor of Duct Tape in your gear room
*You enjoy having a sparkling conversation with Abe Lincoln, Martha Stewart, and the Von Trapp Family
Singers whilst strolling on a glacier at 3am (you saw them too, didn’t you?)
By Robyn Benincasa
Captain, Team Merrell/Wigwam Adventure Racing
