Robyn Benincasa
Director of Fun

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 nine 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 13 years, she has completed over 36 "expedition length" Adventure Races(7-10 day non stop multisport events), and has earned World Champion honors in both the EcoChallenge and the Raid Gauloises. In 2004 Robyn organized some of the best racers on earth to form Team Merrell/Zanfel, ranked among the top three teams in the world.

Ever in search of a way to spread the luuuuuuv, Robyn launched a corporate teambuilding company in 2000, called World Class Teams, which brings the teamwork lessons of Adventure Racing to the corporate world. In the past 7 years, her "Extreme Teams" keynotes have been embraced by Starbucks, Boeing, Amgen, Tony Robbins, Coldwell Banker, Schering Plough, Earthlink, Nestle, The Four Seasons Resorts, Honda, and the US Cycling team, just to name a few.

When she is not out playing all over the world with her teammates or creating World Class Teams for Fortune 500 companies, Robyn is at her "real" job as a full time Firefighter for the City of San Diego. In 2006, she became a member of the only all-female fire crew in the US, Engine 22 in Point Loma. In January 2006 they were featured in the New York Times and on Good Morning America, and the media whirlwind hasn't stopped since!

Race Results:

  • 2nd Place, Primal Quest, Montana 2008
  • 3rd, Primal Quest, Utah 2006
  • 2nd, EcoMotion Brazil, Rio 2006
  • 3rd, Ironman Arizona, Age Group 2006
  • 10th Ironman Triathlon Finish, Kona, 2006
  • 1st, Bull of Africa Expedition Race, South Africa, July 2005
  • 1st, Patagonia Expedition Race 2004
  • 1st place Cal Eco Adventure Series ~ 2003
  • 2nd Place Balance Bar 24 Hour Series ~ 2003
  • 3rd place, Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, NYC ~ 2003
  • 1st Place, Balance Bar Series, Los Angeles, CA ~2002
  • 1st Place, Cal Eco-Series, California ~2002
  • 5th Place, Eco-Challenge, Fiji ~2002
  • 4th Place, NBC Gorge Games, Oregon ~2002
  • 4th Place, Eco-Challenge, New Zealand ~2001
  • 1st place, Raid the North Extreme, Canada ~2001
  • 2nd place, Gorge Games Outdoor World Championship ~2001
  • 3rd place, Discovery Channel Adventure Race World Championship ~2001
  • 3rd place, Southern Traverse, New Zealand ~2000
  • 1st place, Eco-Challenge, Borneo ~2000