Rochester Hills runner JP Flavin crossed the finish line first in the men's international half marathon at the 49th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Flavin, a member of the Rochester Hills-based Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, finished ahead of Tom Oates of Denver and Andrew Cusmano of Portland, Oregon, according to unofficial results reported by Fox 2 Detroit.
"I mean, it's unique in its own way in the sense that you go into Canada … it's like nothing else I've ever experienced," Flavin told WXYZ after the race.
The 13.1-mile international course crosses two international borders, taking runners over the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, Ontario, and back through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel before finishing at the foot of Campus Martius.
Flavin, 28, placed 16th at the 2025 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:10:50, according to USATF’s performance list. He won the December 2025 Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona, with a personal-best marathon time of 2:09:18, according to World Athletics.
The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, an Olympic development program for post-collegiate runners, was founded by brothers Kevin and Keith Hanson in Rochester Hills in 1999.
Hansons-Brooks teammate Megan O'Neil won the women's international half marathon. Julia Pleskaczynska and Joanna Stephens of Dallas, Georgia, rounded out the women's top three, according to Fox 2’s unofficial results.
The half-marathon results were part of a record-setting day for the event. Race organizers expected nearly 30,000 runners across race weekend, a roughly 20% increase over the previous year, race director Aaron Velthoven told CBC News ahead of the race.
Ferndale's Andy Bowman won his third consecutive men's marathon title with an unofficial time of 2:12:11, breaking Greg Meyer's 46-year-old course record of 2:13:07 set in 1980.
It was a sweep for Michigan runners. Lake Orion's Allison Sherman won the women's marathon in an unofficial 2:43:31.
