Willing Replacement
INSPIRATION
Luc Quevauvilliers( and his mascot suit) finished his sixth Comrades in 11:30:03
SCENTS & SENSIBILITY
One of the standout stories from the 2025 Comrades Marathon was the‘ Man in a Can’ who ran the whole race wearing a 13kg mascot outfit as a can of deodorant, and in 2026, Luc Quevauvilliers is set to do it again … just with a bit of rebranding. – BY STUART MANN
Luc jumped at the opportunity run Comrades as a can of deodorant
Sometimes people make silly bets when they’ re drunk, but Luc Quevauvilliers does not drink alcohol, so he cannot fall back on that excuse. Nevertheless, he still thought it would be a good idea to run the Comrades Marathon dressed as a giant can of Shield deodorant. The suit weighed 13 kilograms, and Luc only had one chance beforehand to do a short practice run in it. The second time he put the suit on was at the Comrades Expo, and he just hoped that Comrades race day would be third time lucky.
Sidenote: Shield was one of the official sponsors of the 2025 Comrades Marathon, as the Official Deodorant Supplier for The Ultimate Human Race. Since then, Shield has been rebranded as Rexona, and the brand remains on board with the race this year as an official sponsor, with a special focus on the novices. And the mascot suit will be seen on the route again this year!)
Now, it may all sound a bit crazy, but there was actually an excellent reason behind this madness: An R80,000 donation to the SANParks Honorary Rangers( one of the official Comrades charities). Luc explains that his reason for supporting this charity is,“ SANParks look after 19 national parks, including Kruger National Park and Table Mountain National Park, and with the help of charity donations, they are able to bridge the gaps in funding for important conservation efforts. I love our country and all the incredible wildlife and natural beauty we have, so donating to them is essential to help keep our amazing wildlife well looked after for generations to come.”
Willing Replacement
A friend of Luc’ s was originally planning to do the run in the suit, but apparently broke out into a cold sweat at the last minute because it was her first Comrades, and she was worried her nervous novice perspiration might be too much even for Shield to overcome. Luckily, she knew a crazy friend in Luc Quevauvilliers, and he jumped at the opportunity without giving it a second thought.“ I only got the mascot outfit on the Tuesday before Comrades, so was only able to do about half an hour of running in it to get a feel for how
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Wondering what he had gotten himself into as he wore the suit for just the second time at Expo