Jillian’s March Post: A Trek Across the Grand Canyon with Project Athena: Deaune’s Story

The Project Athena Foundation was created for women with life-altering medical conditions to live their adventure and athletic dreams: An initiative to inspire women not only to survive but thrive in their lives. The foundation provides grants to “Athenaship” recipients, such as a breast cancer survivor who had long-dreamed of visiting the Grand Canyon. Soon she would trek across it, along with 21 other men and women inspired by Project Athena’s cause.

Deaune, who joined this journey, later shared her life-changing story with me. Over the next few months, I will share highlights of her experience with you. Robyn Benincasa -- the creator of Project Athena, one of its five founding members, and a legendary racer -- wrote on Facebook after completing the trek: “Just got out of the Grand Canyon this past weekend with 22 AMAZING and inspirational women who laughed, cried, pushed, pulled, towed, and cheered with one another for 44 hard miles over the last 2 days…On a personal level, many many of the women went through incredible life changing and life affirming transformations.” I certainly did. But that’s another story. For more information about Project Athena, or if you would like to take this extraordinary Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trek in the Grand Canyon with Project Athena yourself, you can join their June jaunt at www.ProjectAthena.org.

Deaune’s Story

After joining Facebook, “One of the first people I looked up was Robyn Benincasa,” Deaune describes. “She so kindly wrote me back and made me feel good.” Robyn and Deaune had “spent a couple of years together in high school…and had a fairly close bond”: running their first 10k together, hiking, attending the same gymnastics camp. Eventually, they split ways. “Robyn went on to take the high road during those years, but I became curious about taking the other ‘high’ road,” Deaune says.

Twenty-five years later, Deaune would read about Project Athena online. She found the mission “So touching. Here [my] Mom was in battle for her life after being diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer six years prior and I was getting a new beginning because, by the grace of God, I have been saved from the torment of alcoholism and cigarettes.” Project Athena was “Giving back. And giving back was something I was learning about after all of those years of selfishness.”

As Deaune trained for the event, “Doubt/insecurities were trying to take over… I was 30 pounds overweight and out of shape. I didn’t [tell Robyn] I was an ex-smoker, drinker, uneducated housewife.” As Deaune rode her bike to the gym everyday, she also realized, “Though I was now sober, there were still some underlying problems that needed to be faced or else I would never be free. I made a promise to God that if I could complete this upcoming ‘mission’ I would come clean with the truth.”

(Part Two to come in April)