By Sarah Harris

: You could be an Athena: that is what the text message from California Council of the Blind’s CEO Paul Shane said. I spent the next two hours wondering what in the world that may be. When I called him he told me about an amazing organization called Project Athena Foundation. What can I say? I was intrigued.

The next day I scoured the Project Athena website while I sat on the beach in Cayucos. I read the stories of past Athenas and Zeauses. I read about people who had strength, will, and perseverance. All the stories had the same theme; going on a PAFAdventure changed their lives.

As usual I am going too quickly. I am sure that you are all asking: What is this Project Athena Foundation that you speak of? What do they do? What are these adventures that you speak of? Well, I will tell you. The Project Athena Foundation was founded by bad ass adventure racer Robin Benincasa to help women who have a setback in life get their bad ass back too. How do they do this? By taking these women, Athenas, and now men, Zeuses on amazing adventures and turning them into athletes. There is the Florida Keys to Recovery which entails not only a bike ride but a kayak trip as well, There is the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, and if that’s not enough for you there is also a Rim to Rim to Rim, and there are many others. You will have to check out the website to learn more: ProjectAthenaFoundation.org.

So fast forward to a couple of weeks after I got that text. I was racing to fill out the application and I had to decide to add a twist. I wanted my daughter, Carson, to join me. My life may have changed when I became blind in a car accident 15 years ago, but that same accident changed her life as well. When she was little and she drew me a picture, she had to tell me what it was. When she started school, she had to read her report card to me. Probably most kids dream…ha-ha. Lucky for me my kid gets excellent grades. We have had to deal with public transportation, keeping ourselves occupied while waiting for para-transit, and yes, a lot of walking. However, we didn’t know what we were in for when we were chosen to be Athenas for the San Diego Cove to Harbor Adventure.

I will tell you, that I have never considered myself an athlete by any means. I was the girl that worked very hard to get of PE. I didn’t play any sports; instead I was a theater geek. Caring more about how fast I could memorize a monologue, rather than how fast I could run a mile. So, needless to say, when I checked out the training module that Carson and I would have to complete the four months prior to Cove to Harbor, I was slightly scared. I asked myself, “Can you really do this”? I told myself, “Of course you can!” Carson and I set out on our training. We joined a gym, which I had never done before, and bought some good shoes. My trusty converse weren’t going to hack it. The trading module included different plans for each week. Some days we would need to walk X amount of miles in X amount of time. We also needed to do some cross training as well. I learned more about the different exercise contraptions, I mean machines that our gym had to offer. I came to realize that I actually liked to work out. As a person who is blind though there is always the problem of time management where transportation is concerned. I live on the outskirts of Fresno where there is not a regular bus route available, so I need to use para-transit or Lyft to get me where I need to go. Using para-transit could sometimes take 2 hours using para-transit to the gym that is only a 20 minute car ride, and Lyft could get expensive. It was then that I learned about Eyes Free Fitness and got ahold of a couple of the workouts. These were fantastic, not only because I was able to work out in my home when I couldn’t make it to the gym, but the exercises were beautifully explained in an audio format that I could follow. This totally solved my problem and I thank Mel Scott for inventing these amazing workouts!

I believe it is week 12 in the training module where you are required to turn in evidence that you have done a 10 or 12 mile walk. Carson decided that it would be best if we mapped out a destination in town that we would be rewarded with awesome food. What can I say? We love to eat! We sat out early on a July Saturday morning to beat the heat. Our walk took us something like 4 hours with breaks at Starbucks, 7-11 for a Slurpee, and a stop at my in-laws to dip our feet in the pool. Our destination was Chubby’s Diner. When we reached the door, I could not believe that we had actually done it. It was truly a feeling of accomplishment that I had never felt before. About two weeks before actual marathon, there was another required walk to be completed. 18 miles! I started this one out with my friends at a Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and then went over to Woodward Park where we met up with our friends that we affectionately call “the boys” and continued to add steps and miles to my fit bit application display. When I returned home I still needed 7.5 more miles. I decided that the only thing that I could do was finish the mileage in my house. I ran, I walked, and I jogged all over the house. My husband thought that I was crazy, I’m sure! When I finished, I took a screen shot of my accomplishment and sent the photo to my adventure coach Vanessa. When I told her that I finished the requirement in my house, she laughed. I am sure that she was thinking “Only the Crazy Blind Lady”.

September 29th came and it was time to fly to San Diego. Carson had never flown before so I consider the flight to be her pre-adventure adventure. We arrived in San Diego, where we met up with my cousin, Regina, and her little family and had lunch. We returned to the airport and met up with Robin, her brother Jack, and Christina who is a previous Athena who was joining us for Cove to Harbor. Carson and I immediately felt like we were with family.

That night we went out to dinner with others that would be joining us. I totally felt connected with Angie, who with two of her closest friends was joining us from Kentucky and I still talk to her to this day.

The morning of the walk, we met some of our new friends in front of the hotel and jumped in the van driven by Robin. I will be honest; I wasn’t feeling so confident about the whole thing. I was worried that I wouldn’t be fast enough, that my legs would give out on me, and I have to say I was worried about if I would have to use the bathroom. HAHA! At the starting line there was a lavish assortment of food laid out. From Bagels to Gummi-bears they had it. We all gathered in a circle and told a little about ourselves. We then shared a granola bar amongst all of us to make things official. We were now family. We would all start together and finish together. We were bonded.

We walked alongside highways, over, Mount Soledad, through the heart of San Diego, past college campuses, on the sandy beach, the busy boardwalk, and roads over-looking cliffs where we were lucky to see beautiful weddings where we shouted out our congratulations to the happy couples

The walk took us about 11.5 hours. Like I said we all started together and we all finished together. Carson and I led the group across the finish line where we were met by our supporters along the way. We then had pizza and wine to celebrate. I have never felt so tired, so happy, so elated, and so euphoric at the same time. Project Athena definitely changed my life.

I want to end this by saying that you never know what you can accomplish until you try. Jumping out of your comfort zone can be one of the most rewarding things that you can do in your lifetime...