The end of October brings rise to 30 days in which men and women will put down their razors in what has come to be known as No Shave November.

Sophomore cross country runner Danny Delaney is one of many proud beard wearers to walk to Eastern’s campus.

“(No Shave November is) where you go a full month without shaving,” Delaney said. “For the guys it’s usually the beard; for the ladies, it’s usually the legs.”

Delaney has been growing his beard since early September and said he hopes to make it through the entire month of November. He said for most people, the most difficult times tends to be at the end of the month.

Delaney said he likes the natural feel of having a beard.

“I like to think, the beard, it’s just natural, it’s primal, it’s wild, you gotta love it,” he said. “It’s just something about it that’s just uninhibited. It’s like, ‘Here I am’. It’s manly.”

With one meet left in Delaney’s cross country season, he said he hopes the beard will add an extra factor of intimidation to his opponents.

“It looks good when you’ve got a full bearded man right next to you; hopefully it intimidates them a little bit, but you never know,” he said.

He said shaving the beard would be the last thing he would do, with only one meet remaining in the season.

“I haven’t shaved yet all season, so I’m definitely not going to do it for the last race,” Delaney said.

Delaney’s quest to boast the best beard on campus has been well received by his family, friends and teammates.

“My friends and my teammates, they’re all behind it; same thing with the girlfriend, she’s actually been really supportive of it, which is really surprising because a lot of girls will just say, ‘Get that off your face’,” he said.

Delaney said he will not even trim his beard, but will only shave his neck.

“I’m going to not trim it,” he said. “I might shave my neck a little bit, otherwise I’m just going to let it go and hopefully make it to the end of the month.”

He said the No Shave November craze is starting to catch on among his teammates.

“They haven’t had it since as long as I have not shaved, but since yesterday and since the beginning of November, a lot of them have stopped shaving,” Delaney said. “They’re going to try and make it the full month. And we’ve got a few guys on the team that haven’t shaved at least a week or two since the start of November, so they’re going to be looking pretty scruffy too.”

Delaney said he’s trying to go with a beard style of the late 1960s and early 1970s, similar to that of George Harrison of The Beatles.

“You gotta go with The Beatles’ George Harrison in the later years, he’s a bearded inspiration.”

He said he attempted No Shave November last year, but did not make it the full month. He says he is confident this year, as he has already gone two months without shaving.

Delaney’s advice to others trying to attempt No Shave November is to remember the reason for the month.

“Some days it’s going to feel uncomfortable, and you’re going to feel like, ‘I look like a bum,’ but you’ve got to tell yourself why you’re doing it.”

Delaney compared No Shave November to a Saturday night when people let loose.

“It’s kind of like, why do people go out on Saturday nights and drink? It’s because they can let loose, they can kind of be uninhibited and society kind of forgives that.”

Delaney said the biggest motivation for guys participating in No Shave November is having a reason to not shave.

“The fun thing about November, and I think why guys like to do it, is because it’s just that month where they have an excuse where they can (not shave).”

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.