Raising awareness about cancer through a fun run or sports event is not uncommon, but a run where men wear only a speedo certainly is unique.
“Running in just a speedo is something that asks a lot of men, more than most people understand. But dealing with cancer asks a lot too. And that is why this platform works, “ says Warwick Bloom, Group Head: Internal Marketing and PR at Hollard.
What started thirteen years ago with a few brave souls running through peak hour traffic in speedos to raise awareness about cancer, has since become a nationwide phenomenon that raises eyebrows and raises awareness about prostate and testicular cancer.
“The importance of this run has gone completely beyond what I originally imagined. I thought we’d raise some money once off, hand it over to CANSA and feel pretty good about ourselves,” says Nick Levesley, who, without knowing it, led the very first Daredevil Run.
He says the story dates back to 2009, when he missed out on winning a prize in a radio giveaway. Determined to win something, he offered to run down Johannesburg’s Jan Smuts Avenue in a speedo, and the radio station accepted the dare. Realising the gravity of the situation, he called on some friends and arranged for them to all win prizes if they participated with him.
Through one of his friends who was working at Etana Insurance at the time (a Hollard partner), they secured some sponsorship and attached a cause to the event – testicular cancer awareness. This was especially relevant as Nick’s dad had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
Before they knew it, 200 men had signed up for the inaugural Daredevil Run. Nick says that the spirit of this first event endures to this day, with many of the original participants running every single year.
The Daredevil Run has progressed from a few brave men wearing red speedos, to thousands wearing the purple speedos introduced by Hollard when they re-incorporated Etana in 2014.
The event underwent another significant change last year, with the running of the first-ever nation-wide “COVID-edition” Hollard Daredevil Run. While social distancing and pandemic-related restrictions made a single mass-participation event impossible, men all over South Africa were challenged to put together smaller runs all over the country. While the format change was unavoidable, it led to increased awareness about the event and about prostate and testicular cancer nationally. THis transformed platform will now be used as the benchmark going forward.
“You saved my life. I had a PSA test when I was collecting my race pack at Hollard, and they picked up that I had signs of early prostate cancer. I’d never have known if it hadn’t been for the run”. This and many similar comments have been shared with Nick when men learn that he led the very first Daredevil Run.
“I must be honest; we’ve spoken to a number of guys who have said the same thing over the years, and it is pretty overwhelming. It is just incredible that with the support that Hollard has given this event, it has turned into such a popular and phenomenal force for good that is literally saving lives,” Nick says.
This year’s event, taking place on Friday 30 September, is expected to be even bigger, with men and boys from every corner of South Africa once again being able to organize and participate in runs in their own neighborhoods. In addition to these smaller runs, the much-loved Gauteng-based event will also return to Zoo Lake for the first time in two years, giving men the chance to join thousands of others in painting Jozi’s streets purple.
All proceeds from the annual Hollard Daredevil Run go to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa in order to promote awareness of and screening for prostate and testicular cancer.
Read more about the history of the Hollard Daredevil Run here, and go to www.daredevilrun.com for more information about this year’s Hollard Dardevil Run. Registrations for the 2022 Hollard Daredevil Run are now officially open and available here.
