The Coastal Challenge (TCC), the World's Expedition Run, is proud to announce the addition of Project Athena to it's 2009 competition, taking place January 31 - February 7 along Costa Rica's Pacific coastline. Project Athena, founded by five female adventure athletes who have each survived life-affirming struggles, is a foundation formed to grant the adventure-oriented wishes, or "Athenaships," of women who have experienced medical or traumatic setbacks. To promote its cause, Project Athena's founders will race as a team at select high-profile events in 2009, including TCC.

"We want to get out there and show other survivors what's possible, and to encourage them to again see 'challenges' versus roadblocks," said Athena Captain Robyn Benincasa, who will be joined by teammates Melissa Cleary, (who runs everyday with Rheumatoid Arthritis) and Florence Debout (a two time cancer survivor), as well as Natasha Barton, Jonea Mounsey and Masha Glanville in Costa Rica.

To add further support, The Coastal Challenge is sponsoring the registration for for Team Project Athena's Debout, in celebration of her 5th year as a Survivor, and is offering new female competitors a registration discount. E-mail registration@thecoastalchallenge.com for more details.

TCC also encourages woman who are currently registered to visit www.projectathena.org and consider becoming fellow "goddesses," who will race to help raise money for Project Athena's 2009 "Athenaship" grant recipients.

While Project Athena adds a philanthropic element to this year's race, Benincasa, a firefighter and one of the world's premiere adventure athletes, further elevates TCC's top-notch field of competitors. In the past 10 years, she has earned World Champion honors in both the Eco-Challenge (Borneo, 2000) and the Raid Gauloises (1998), and is sure to enhance the spirit of camaraderie and competition in this year’s field, which features athletes from eight countries.

The 2009 race, which will be capped at 125 competitors, offers four categories of participation:

• Team Expedition Run - Runners sign up in teams of three to six
• Solo Expedition Run - The full 200+ km Expedition Run
• Solo Adventure Run - A shortened, yet extremely challenging 125-km route
• Guest Adventure Tours - Daily adventure tours like river rafting, nature hikes and more available to guests of the runners

The 2009 course, coined "The Rainforest Edition," is set along Costa Rica's tropical Pacific coastline and weaves into the Talamancas, a coastal mountain range in Costa Rica's Southwest corner. The event finishes in Corcovado National Park, one of the world's premier rainforests and a Unesco World Heritage site.

The course served as the inspiration for the revamped website at www.thecoastalchallenge.com, which includes enhanced photos and information, and will unveil the complete route later this year. Also, in an effort to connect competitors before and after the event, TCC has created a blog, www.thecoastalblog.com.