Racing Against Time, Nature, and the Limits of Endurance
Dana Benyo ’97 found a new challenge in the off-roading, all-women Rebelle Rally
It was 115 degrees in the Imperial Sand Dunes of California, and the Defender rally car was stuck. Digging the car out of sand “so hot it can burn you” was Dana Benyo ’97.
But Benyo wasn’t alone. She and several other drivers were out training for the Rebelle Rally, a women’s off-road navigation competition through California and Nevada that Benyo participated in for the first time last October.
When her fellow trainees saw her digging into the sand with her Maxtrax, a specialized shovel, they pitched in to help. “The encouragement and all-out love the other Rebelles showed was amazing,” Benyo says as she reflects on that moment. “I was like, this feels like Bryn Mawr.”
Off-road rallies can be male-dominated and aggressive, says Chrissie Beavis, director of scoring and the head rally judge. Ten years ago, she worked with founder Emily Miller to make sure the Rebelle Rally wouldn’t be like that.
Beavis is a native of this world. When she was younger, her parents organized rallies, and she has competed for years. She designed the scoring system for the Rebelle by envisioning the sort of event she would want to compete in, one that would be uplifting and as doable for first-timers as it was for professionals.
“It’s just such a difference,” she says. “All women, everyone is super relaxed, there’s so much camaraderie.”
On Oct. 10, 2024, Benyo and Pam Wright, her driving partner, showed up at the starting line and checked their cell phones. Team No. 103, or “She’ll Be Right,” a term Wright learned from her grandmother in New Zealand and adopted as the team’s name, handed their Instagram updates over to Wright’s husband, Nick, and set off in Wright’s red 2023 Bronco, “Rosie,” with a Bryn Mawr bumper sticker on the back and a stuffed owl named Oswald in the front windshield.
Benyo and Wright are colleagues at Adobe, where they work in the finance department. They had become friends and bonded over their shared interest in off-roading and camping. Benyo’s husband learned about the Rebelle Rally and talked her into doing it, as “he knows I love a good challenge,” she says.
She was intrigued by the idea of doing something new that would push her out of her comfort zone. Way, way out.
“Out of the blue one day, Dana texted me and said, ‘Hey, do you want to do the Rebelle Rally with me?’” Wright says. She jokes that Benyo probably thought, “Pam is crazy enough to do this with me.”
The Rebelle is expensive, running $15,600 per team. You have to have a vehicle equipped to handle it, the time off to be able to compete, plus the ability to dedicate months to training and preparation. Competitors spend weekends in the sand dunes, learning old-school navigation techniques, and practicing changing tires.
Then there is the rally itself, which is an exercise in endurance and teamwork. In the Rebelle, participants compete against a clock, not against each other. It’s early mornings and long days—10 hours or more—in the car. There is food (great food, Benyo says; the tater tots are legendary) and mechanics who can repair cars overnight waiting for them back at base camp. But during the day, they’re on their own.
The teams set off each morning with either a map of checkpoints to find or a road book that directs them turn-by-turn, MapQuest-style.
The goal is to find as many checkpoints as possible in the time allotted. The green checkpoints are the easiest, marked with a flag, and worth the most points. Blues are next, with smaller flags or a narrow pole.
Black checkpoints are unmarked, requiring navigational skills and a high level of confidence as participants blindly click their trackers and wait to see if they are correct.
GPS and computer navigation are banned; maps, compasses, plotters, and fine mechanical pencils are their only tools. “A tenth of a centimeter could make a difference in how you mark something on a map and measure out to it,” Benyo says.
The system, with the easiest checkpoints being worth the most points, means there is a smaller disparity between the highest-scoring teams and the lowest. Still, getting it wrong can cost points, and being too far off the mark can mean negative points.
“The encouragement and all-out love the other Rebelles showed was amazing. I was like, this feels like Bryn Mawr.”
Coming to terms with the fact that they wouldn’t be able to find all the checkpoints was one of the biggest hurdles for Benyo and Wright.
“She and I are both total overachievers at work,” Wright says. “It was tough for us to accept that we were not going to be the best at this rally.”
After getting off to a good start, Benyo and Pam finished day four fully expecting that they would have negative points.
Everything went wrong—the map didn’t seem to align perfectly with the terrain, and they were confused by a “no trespassing” sign. Then, they got a flat tire.
“Almost the minute we got back on the grid,” Benyo says, “everyone’s first question was ‘What happened on day four?’”
Even though the day was a failure, Wright says, “In hindsight, I’m probably the proudest of that day. When we rolled into the fuel truck, we were still laughing.”
Being able to blame yourself and take responsibility is key to success in the Rebelle, Beavis says. “By the end they have learned ‘I can do this, I can fix it, I can be the best teammate possible for this person sitting next to me, I can know how to fix my car, I can know where I am going.’ And it’s so empowering.”
Professional photographers and videographers capture the drivers digging out of sand, changing tires, and taking compass readings in the desert landscapes with their hair blown back. “It’s really cool to have that kind of imagery,” Beavis says. “They’ve never, ever seen a picture of themselves doing something so badass.”
The event is also well documented on the Rebelle Rally’s social media accounts, which share up-to-date photos, drone shots of the cars streaming through waves of sand, and interviews with the teams. Benyo was shocked to find out how many people were following them live on the Rebelle website.
“You don’t realize how many people care about you even though you may not have been in touch as recently as you would like to be,” she says, “that they’ve taken such a strong interest in this crazy thing you’re doing. That’s really touching to see.”
There were some fights and some tears. But the Rebelle also offered spectacular vistas, a sense of accomplishment, and an opportunity to meet interesting women from all walks of life.
There’s a comfort in knowing you can be uncomfortable and be OK.”
And for what it’s worth, they didn’t get negative points on day four, and they finished right in the middle of the pack—a solid performance for two rookies.
“The most important thing for us was to protect our friendship,” Wright says. “We still wanted to be friends at the end of the rally. It wasn’t just about the competition; it was also about the experience.”
Three thousand kilometers (1,864 miles) later, would they do it again? After a few weeks back to normal life, Benyo admitted she was thinking about it and was brushing up on her trigonometry to better estimate distances on a map. By January, the answer was a resounding yes; they were officially signed up for the 10th anniversary of the Rebelle Rally.
“I don’t know if I would have done this if I hadn’t gone to Bryn Mawr,” Benyo says. “I wouldn’t have gotten used to being uncomfortable. There’s a comfort in knowing you can be uncomfortable and be OK.”
Follow along on Instagram at @shellberightrally
Published on: 02/26/2025