After three-time Olympian and former 1500-meter World Champion Jenny Simpson wrapped up her 20-year professional running career at the 2024 New York City Marathon, she wondered what was next.

Years of chasing personal bests and national teams demanded meticulous planning. Yet, retirement offered no blueprint, a reality simultaneously inspiring and frightening. 

In time, however, an unexpected opportunity arose for Simpson, shifting any angst into enthusiasm. That’s when Fleet Feet named Simpson its first-ever chief running officer in February.

Leveraging Simpson’s credibility and passion to champion running in the nation’s consciousness, the new leadership role is designed to deepen the national retailer’s connection to local running communities, shape training programs and guide brand partnerships nationwide. 

And Simpson is ready for it. 

A new appreciation for running

As 2025 approached, Simpson and her husband, Jason, crafted plans to visit and run in all 50 states – a “gap year” of sorts to contemplate next steps after years of carefully coordinated activity.

While the travel plans were relatively loose – and intentionally so to allow freedom for exploration and discovery – Simpson did set one priority: she wanted to discover what running means all over the country.

“A year of running-focused wilderness,” she calls it.

The Simpsons’ Run USA road trip, completed across 50 weeks in 2025, included visiting run clubs and run specialty shops from Fleet Feet Monterey in California to Striders in Michigan to Millenium Running in New Hampshire. Simpson ran in national parks and urban downtowns. She interacted with individuals engaging with running to capture its positive benefits, such as improved physical, mental and emotional health. 

“Beautiful runs and beautiful people,” Simpson says.

Most of all, though, Simpson discovered running served as an excuse for being together. 

“I saw so clearly how engaging in a group run is a proxy for human connection,” she says.

The adventure ignited a deeper appreciation for running, something beyond Simpson’s experience as an elite athlete. It returned her to the purity of the sport, its joy and simplicity, something she first enjoyed as a youth runner buying her running shoes at Track Shack in Orlando.

Joining Fleet Feet

During her Run USA tour, Simpson rolled through North Carolina and arranged a meeting with Fleet Feet CEO Joey Pointer. Simpson picked Pointer’s brain about ways she might leverage her elite career to stay involved in the sport.

“Honestly, I don’t remember his advice as much as the connection we had,” Simpson, who had only previously interacted with Pointer in passing, tells Running Insight. 

Months later, Pointer tracked down Simpson to discuss a potential role at Fleet Feet. Pointer recognized Simpson’s earnest desire to promote running and community, and his eventual job offer was a sign of faith in both Simpson and her alignment with Fleet Feet’s vision.

“Joey wanted me to take who I am and what I do and do it at Fleet Feet,” Simpson says. 

As the North Carolina-based company’s chief running officer, Simpson inhabits a multi-faceted role touching areas such as marketing, operations and vendor partnerships. In addition to serving as a national spokesperson for Fleet Feet, Simpson is tasked to support Fleet Feet stores and coaches nationwide with community-driven programming. She will also work with brand partners to better leverage shared resources and help nurture Fleet Feet’s expansion into the broader wellness sphere, including recovery, nutrition and sleep. 

“[Simpson’s] rare ability to connect authentically with everyone from children to large audiences makes this role both timely and deeply significant for the future of Fleet Feet,” Pointer said in a company press release announcing Simpson’s appointment.

On a Mission

Simpson spent her opening months with Fleet Feet at the company’s Carrboro, NC, headquarters, where she met with internal and external stakeholders and learned Fleet Feet’s structure. She acknowledges she has much to learn on the industry side but says one thing is absolutely certain.

“I get the mission,” she says.

That understanding represents a source of strength and enthusiasm for Simpson, a melding of passion and purpose that excites. She says the chief running officer role marks a dynamic new chapter in her running life – an opportunity to meld her experience, her belief in the transformational power of running and Fleet Feet’s national footprint to propel health and wellness across the country.

Simpson teases ideas like creating meaningful touchpoints at major races and bringing the information, health and behaviors she utilized as an elite athlete to help the masses find enjoyment in the sport and chase their own fitness goals.

Once wondering What’s next?, Simpson now lives in a present capturing her heart and imagination.

“How can I give the running community things that made my life better?” she says. “How can I make the runner’s experience better and better?”