Steinert XC & the great beard challenge of 1987
- May 10
- 4 min read
Updated: May 11
Published 5/10/2026
It had been attempted before. In the spring of 1986. The Steinert Boys Track Team had tried it.
The challenge? To go undefeated in dual meets. The prize? Coach Doug Martin would have to shave his beard off--a beard he had grown nearly 20 years before after his service in the United States Marine Corps had concluded.
The penalty for failing to win the bet would be costly. The agreement was if they did not go undefeated in all 12 of their meets the beard would stay and the entire team had to shave their heads.
The result that year was 11 wins but 1 tight loss--a 67 to 64 defeat near the end of the track season at the hands of Trenton High. Many a Spartan's head became bald very soon after.
A year and a half went by. Heads of hair had grown back. That stubborn beard remained. But the spirit of the challenge remained as well.
The attempt at redemption would be taken on in the fall of 1987 by the Steinert Cross Country Team. This time the challenge was even harder. Not only did the team have to win all 16 of their dual meets, they had to win the Mercer County XC Championship Meet as well. If they could live up to the task, their hair would be saved and the beard would finally go.
During the 1987 season, as the story was unfolding, it was documented in a school video production. To view a still bearded Doug Martin describing the terms of the bet in an interview, see the video below starting at the 1:20 second mark.
The future Group III state champions started off on a roll, steamrolling through all of their dual cross country meets with dominating wins. Not only that, they also won the Shore Coaches Invite and the Stewart Invite. Their confidence was high, and it seemed the beard's long term was nearing its end.
The only hurdle remaining was the toughest of them all: A county championship showdown on October 30th 1987 at Washington Crossing Park verses every team in Mercer. Especially challenging would be a capable Princeton High squad looking for revenge after losing their dual with the Spartans earlier that season. The PHS team knew about the bet and had their own motivational theme going into the meet: "The Save the Beard Campaign."
The Spartans ran well at the county championship. However a simple spectator's observation of runners passing the finish line did not reveal an overwhelming winner. It was close. Princeton ran well too. The score would have to be tallied.
In the meantime while waiting for the officials' score, Steinert thought they had lost. A member of the Steinert squad acting as a team manager that day was assigned to write down the order of finish by first letter of each school's name as their runners came across the line. On the manager's clipboard were S's for 2nd, 6th, 8th, 12th and 13th. The P's were in places 3, 4, 5, 10 and 15. If true, Princeton had won by four points and the beard would survive yet again.
When the officials determined the actual score that THEY had kept however, the team from Steinert was congratulated with the win.
But what about that "P" for Princeton that the Steinert manager had written down for 10th?
It actually stood for "Peddie". Craig Reiner from The Peddie School had finished 10th.
Steinert's Doug Larkin-- who finished 8th-- explained.
They hadn't lost after all. They'd done it. The actual score was Steinert by 7 points.
1987 Mercer County Champs!!
Soon after, with heads full of hair, they all took turns as Martin sat in a chair at Steinert High School honoring his bet loss. Doug Larkin, Aaron Oldfield, Tom Canto, Tom Hooker and Charlie Zoda--the pack of 5 harriers who had won all of their meets--each got to take a turn removing portions of the beard with electric clippers in the school weight room.
And with that... the beard was gone.
The post-beard era kicked off in an epic way. The cross country team would soon go to Holmdel and win the CJ Sectional title paced by Aaron Oldfield's gold medal performance. A week after, they easily outdistanced runner-up Union Hill at the Group III State Championships to win Steinert's first and only state cross country crown. Later that school year, Martin's boys spring track team would have another undefeated dual meet season (15-0) and they tacked on more wins at the Mercer County and CJ Sectional track championships.
As far as the beard is concerned? It has not reappeared since.
A clean shaven Doug Martin will be inducted into the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame this month on May 17 at Mercer Oaks. He will be joined in induction by 17 other Mercer greats in the sport of track and cross-country.
© 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame
