He runs across entire states for the challenge & good causes

 

When Justin DeFlumeri ran from the top to the bottom of three New England states, he was continuing his passion for running, challenging himself to set timing records, and raising money and awareness for a good cause.

Those three separate endurance runs challenged DeFlumeri, who grew up in Methuen, physically – subjecting him at times to heat, rain and uphill terrain.

“I love the test about battling with yourself,” said DeFlumeri, 36, who has participated in hundreds of various types of runs. “What’s your breaking point? Also, when you get to your breaking point (you) push forward. There is something really special in that.”

In October, DeFlumeri ran his Rhode Island challenge, 63.21 miles, in 20 hours and 21 minutes, an accomplishment noted on the website Fastest Known Time (FKT).

His friend Erin Davis, who lives in Merrimack, N.H., and met DeFlumeri through a running club, followed him in a minivan carrying his supplies – including fruit, sneakers, water, lights and other foods – during his run.

The vehicle, which she typically drove about 30 feet behind him, she said, protected him.

Although the weather cooperated, the terrain she said was “surprisingly very hilly, lot of hills and elevation.”

“We are basically going on his pace and breaking when he needs to,” Davis said.

DeFlumeri raises money and awareness for the Heather Abbott Foundation, which helps provide customized prostheses to people who have lost limbs through traumatic circumstances, according to its website. Abbott’s left leg was amputated below the knee as a result of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Signs on the vehicle that followed DeFlumeri shared with observers that he is supporting the foundation.

DeFlumeri has raised just under $15,000 for HAF and has about $5,000 left to raise in connection with the 2026 Boston Marathon to reach his fund-raising goal, according to the Heather Abbott Foundation.

“I’m incredibly grateful for Justin’s dedication and the passion he’s shown in raising funds for the Heather Abbott Foundation,” Abbott told MethuenLife. “His efforts help us continue our mission of supporting amputees with life-changing prosthetic care and remind us all what can be accomplished when a community comes together for others.”

DeFlumeri’s friend Davis said that drivers along the route honked their horns in support, a motorcycle group was encouraging, and a friend who caught up with them ran along with DeFlumeri.

“A lot of support from strangers, a lot of support from friends as well,” she recalled.

The last 8 miles of the route, Davis said, were tougher for DeFlumeri than he anticipated – but he pushed through.

She drove because she wanted to experience his long run and believes he’s an inspiration.

“It was amazing for me to witness something like this, watching someone wanting to go through this from start to finish,” she said. “He was raising money for such a wonderful foundation along the way. It’s just truly inspiring, just something I wanted to be able to experience and witness, participate in and help any way that I could.”

DeFlumeri, who also lives in Merrimack, N.H., and owns an occupational health and safety consulting firm, Optimal Safety Inspections, based in Nashua, said he loved growing up in Methuen and misses the city. It was a place, he said, that shaped him.

“Methuen, Massachusetts is the best of both worlds,” said DeFlumeri, who graduated from Tenney Grammar School and Methuen High. “It’s a place that teaches you the value of family, community and growing up surrounded by people who care. But it also gives you the strength to stand up for yourself, to be resilient and to carry confidence wherever life takes you. It’s a town that raises you with heart.”

DeFlumeri, a former boxer who a few years ago endured some health problems and underwent physical therapy, began running in 2023, becoming passionate and heavily involved in the sport.

“Oh my God, it’s the same feeling as fighting. You get all the endorphins,” he said. “You want to give up but you’re not giving up. I just took to it.”

He’s participated in various endurance challenges, including 5Ks, marathons, triathlons and Iron Man challenges. West Virginia, Oregon, Minnesota, Arizona and Maryland are among the states he’s been to.

His New Hampshire run in June, where temperatures hit 90 degrees, totaled four days, four hours and 56 minutes. Dehydration landed DeFlumeri at an urgent care center during his run where the care administered included two IVs of fluid.

His total in Vermont in late July was three days, 17 hours and four minutes.

He hopes in the future to complete state-length runs in the three remaining New England states: Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut.

His friend Teresa Mirra, an emergency room nurse who lives in Everett, drove behind him in Vermont. The weather was sunny and hot and there was a downpour, she recalled.

“It’s a lot of highways, there were not many sidewalks for him,” she said. “So he was often running on the side of the highways. He also had a lot of uphills to run.”

Observers honked and waved and wanted to know what he was doing. They can follow him on Instagram, she said.

“He puts the fund-raising at the forefront, and he’s very team-oriented and very grateful for the help that he gets when he does this,” Mirra said. “I would do it again. It’s something you can’t put into words when you watch someone do that. ‘Oh my goodness, you just ran a whole state.’ ”