TOMS RIVER – It did not take JP Flavin long to earn $10,000.
The former Toms River High School North runner won The Marathon Project in 2:09:18 at the Wild Horse Pass Resort in Chandler, Az.
“Freaking 2:09:18!” he exclaimed. “Gotta learn how to look prettier at the finish line, but what a time! What a day! It still feels like a dream! There are plenty of times in this sport when the work doesn’t feel worth it, but yesterday was a day that made me remember why we constantly put ourselves through hell!
“Learning how to deal with the highs and lows of the marathon has been tricky. There are some miles when you feel amazing and some miles where you think to yourself, ‘My legs don’t wanna do this anymore,’ but thankfully I’ve learned how to tame those thoughts.”
Call the former Mariner New Jersey’s Most Magnificent Marathoner. All he did was post the fastest time in Garden State history. He found the fast, flat, criterium style six-loop course to his liking.
“I knew the course was fast and that the Marathon Project had a great reputation,” Flavin said. “The weather was great. The course was very flat. Ideal for a marathon. I knew I would be able to finish in the top five and compete for a win. My time goal was 2:0:30. I was aiming for a top five finish. I did not expect to win. If I won, I won.”
There were 50 men’s finishers. There were 24 women’s finishers. Average race finishing time was 2:24.52.
It was a fight to the finish. Flavin fought off second-place Turner Wiley (2:09:27) of Issaquah, Wa.
“When I crossed the finish line, I was mostly in shock,” Flavin said. “I turned around and saw my girlfriend, Anna Vess, and got to greet her, which was great. I then saw that a good friend of mine finished second and celebrated with him a little bit following the race.”
Flavin reached 5 kilometers in 15:30, 10K in 30:46, 15K in 45:59, 20K in 1:01:19, 13.1 miles in 1:04:40, 30K in 1:31:55, 25K in 1:16:46 and 40K in 2:02:29.
“I stuck to my game plan of running mid-4:50’s,” he said. “I tried not to be too aggressive. I opted to go with the 2:08 pace group. They were the key reasons for the win. I knew winning was possible, but it was not a focus of mine. I was thinking about running as fast as I could and being happy with where I placed.
“The marathon is such a long race (26.2 miles). I really tried to zone out as much as I could in the early stages of this race to prevent any additional mental strain. At around mile 17, I started to lock in and realize I was going to have a good day and could contend for the win. At around mile 24, I took the lead and had to limit getting too excited as the last two miles were especially tough. My legs were starting to cramp and tighten up a little bit. At around 24 miles, I fought off cramps.”
Flavin has competed in – and finished – five marathons.
“It was my first win in a marathon,” he said. “It feels as if years of training culminate into a result that was a big accomplishment.”
Another member of Team Flavin in Arizona was his mom, Melanie Flavin.
“Anna’s and mom’s belief in me has been a huge help,” Flavin said. “They have believed in me since Day One.”
Flavin, 27, a 6-foot-145-pounder, put himself through a grueling training program.
“I did a 12-week build where my mileage peaked at 134 miles,” he said. “I had four weeks within that build above 130 miles. The majority of my runs were at around a 6:15 pace per mile. My workouts were around a 4:55 pace per mile. Sometimes, getting in all of the mileage necessary can be exhausting. That’s the most challenging aspect of being a marathoner. Getting into a groove and finding the rhythm of running fast can be amazing at times. That’s the most satisfying aspect of being a marathoner.”
Flavin runs professionally for the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, an Olympic development program for post collegiate distance runners. He is coached by brothers Kevin and Keith Hanson, the founders of the Rochester Hills, Mi., program born in 1999.
“Our strategy was to hide in the pace group I was running with until it was time to take the lead,” Flavin said. “We wanted to limit the amount of time leading in the early parts of the race to help conserve energy for the latter miles of the race.”
The 2016 North graduate–he sped to the boys’ 2015 Shore Conference cross country title in a then personal best 15:15 at flat, fast Ocean County Park in Lakewood–works part time as an accounting associate at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills, Mi. Flavin, who ran his first strides around his freshman year at North, competed for North Carolina State University and the University of Dayton. He owns a degree in accounting from N.C. State.
Flavin has become one of America’s top marathoners.
There was a 2:14:55 finish in the flat and fast Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2022–good for 26th overall. He was the 10th American to finish.
There was a 2:13:27 finish in the hilly Boston Marathon in 2023–good for 17th overall. He was the sixth American to finish.
There was a 2:12:34 finish in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2024–good for 21st overall. He was the ninth American to finish.
And there was a 2:10:50 finish in the Boston Marathon in 2025–good for 16th overall. He was the fifth American to finish.
“I worked very hard on my speed in between marathons,” he said. “I focused on shorter road races to help my legs become accustomed to faster speeds so that it would feel more comfortable in a marathon. I’ve told people that my goal in these past couple of years is that I want to be in the conversation when it comes to United States marathoning. I’d like to think I’m getting close.”
Why does Flavin feel he has been so successful?
“Knowing that it’s a process and being patient I understand that even the results aren’t the most flashy will help you later on,” he said. “All work is good work is a mantra that I think about a lot. Being a professional athlete is very rewarding and demanding. Both the good days and bad days are unforgettable. As soon as you run a great race, the most natural reaction to have is, ‘Well. How can I run faster in the future?’
“What I enjoy the most about running is the community within the sport and meeting some of my best friends through running.”
