Issue 417, sponsored by D+M Engineering PLLC
Jenny Simpson is grateful to be alive, and grieving the loss of her ability to run
On June 16, Jenny Simpson, the 2011 world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 1500m, paced a group of girls who were hoping to run 5:30 at a Sir Walter Running Pop Up Miles event in Raleigh, North Carolina. After running a 5:29, she was chatting with another attendee on the infield when she started to feel unwell. She told them she needed a minute, she stepped away, and then she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Simpson nearly died that day, but thanks to the heroic work of a number of bystanders and paramedics, she did not. But even once she got to the hospital, she was not out of the woods yet. She suffered a second cardiac arrest and had to be put on ECMO.
Last week, Simpson began to share some of her story, making an appearance on CBS Saturday Morning (text version here) and speaking to The Athletic (gift link). And on September 7, she’ll be on the Rich Roll Podcast. (Side note: I appreciate that most of the people who were at Williams Stadium that day respected her privacy as she recovered and didn’t go to the media to discuss what they saw. I imagine the experience was life-altering for many of them as well.)
The CBS video is a must watch, and the Athletic piece adds some key details. Simpson has been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare, inherited condition that disrupts electrical signals and can be difficult to screen for. Simpson said that one of her doctors remarked that they were surprised that nothing happened to her sooner. While having the condition is a stroke of unfortunate luck, if she had to collapse, it was extremely fortunate that it happened where it did.
As the details from June 16 emerge—Simpson remembers none of it—one star that stands out is Dr. Ivy Pointer, a pediatric ICU physician and runner who immediately began administering CPR, while her husband, Joey Pointer, CEO of Fleet Feet, ran to get the defibrillator that they had purchased for their son Liam’s track team, because he was born with a heart condition of his own.
As Simpson’s doctor, Albert Sun, told The Athletic, “You can point to amazing emergency care from the EMS, emergency care from the emergency department, catheterization, cardiology care, intensive care unit support, you know, all the diagnosis and all that part. But nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing compares to the importance of early CPR and AED access.”
Thanks to the Pointers and others, Simpson collapsed in a place where she had that. Just about a week later, their son Liam underwent his previously scheduled open-heart surgery, coincidentally at the same hospital where Simpson was undergoing surgery the same day. And somehow, on the weekend between helping save Simpson’s life and being there for her son’s procedure, Ivy Pointer, 47, ran a speedy 3:22:12 at Grandma’s Marathon, where she finished eighth in her age group.
Simpson, who turned 40 yesterday, now has an implanted defibrillator and a pacemaker, which will kick into action should her heart’s rhythm be disrupted again. She is grateful to be alive, but she is still recovering from the life-changing event in many ways. And because of her condition, she will never be able to run again—an adjustment that any runner would struggle to make, but a particularly tough one for Simpson, because the sport is so central to her life and her work as Fleet Feet’s Chief Running Officer.
As most of you know, about seven weeks before Simpson collapsed, my husband, Parker, had something very similar happen, likely due to an electrical issue with his heart. But unlike Simpson, he did not have immediate CPR and AED access. Paramedics were miraculously able to get his heart going again, but he never regained consciousness and died five days later. There are so many what ifs that one can go through, and I have, but in the end, in this one very important way, things did not play out in his favor.
Through his freelance work for World Athletics, Parker covered many of the big moments in Simpson’s career. He was in Rio in 2016 when she won her Olympic bronze medal and in Moscow in 2013 when she won her first world championships silver medal. (He missed her world championships gold in 2011, though, because he was home on paternity leave.) I imagine that he would have been pretty darn surprised to learn that he and Simpson had something like this in common.
After Simpson collapsed, I got a number of messages from people saying they were thinking of me and it must be triggering to see her go through something like that. It was shocking and sad, but if anything, it just drove home how little control we have over these things. Having medals from global championships doesn’t ward off health problems.
Something about my high school health class experience left me believing on some level that if I ate “well” and exercised, I would be rewarded with good health. As I spent a little more time in the world and paid more attention to the stories around me, it quickly became apparent that it was so much more complicated than that, and genetics, environment, socioeconomic status, luck, and other factors have a lot more to do with it.
That’s not to say that we have no control over our health, but we have so much less than that health class curriculum would have had me believe.
It’s not triggering to write about this, because I’ve thought about mortality more than most people in recent months. Parker and Jenny’s stories are a reminder that life can change in an instant and our futures are never guaranteed. You never know when a run—or an interaction with someone—might be your last.
I feel like I should be ending this with some great insight about making the most of every moment, but that sounds like a tiring way to live. We can’t spend our lives anticipating the moment when something will be taken from us. But most of us can probably do more to appreciate what we do have, before it’s threatened or gone.
A huge thanks to D+M Engineering PLLC for supporting Fast Women this month
Muna and David Mitchell own and operate D+M Engineering PLLC, a woman-owned, Austin-based engineering firm. We are proud to sponsor the Fast Women newsletter for the month of August. Stay tuned for one more week and to read the best part about our story.
Muna and David met through their local running club, volunteering at races starting with the Daisy 5K, initially a women’s-only race and Austin’s oldest 5K event. In our spare time alongside other volunteers, we planned the course, hired vendors, obtained the permit, designed the shirt, and deployed race-day volunteers, all while working full-time engineering jobs and making time for our own running.
We fell hard for each other very quickly and also learned that we were very good at working together. It took many more years before we took the step of starting our own engineering business together, but we are not surprised at how much we continue to enjoy working together. While we can’t help comparing PRs, we also can’t help cheering each other on through every race.
To learn more about our engineering services and community endeavors, please visit www.dplusmengineering.com or contact Muna Mitchell at muna@dplusmengineering.com.
With two more stops to go, the Diamond League season rolls on
After a month-long break for the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, the Diamond League season resumed last week with meets in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Silesia, Poland.
In Lausanne, Audrey Werro narrowly continued her unbeaten streak in the 800m, holding off the Netherlands’ Femke Broeders-Bol, 1:55.33 to 1:55.41. Werro followed the pacer through 400m in 55.3, a little on the aggressive side, and paid for it in the homestretch. Broeders-Bol ran close behind her, but with a slightly faster 400m personal best, the quick start may have taken a little less out of her. And she keeps getting better at her new event. For the second meet in a row, she set a national record, this time lowering it by 0.13 seconds.
And recall how three weeks ago I said to remember the name Saida Tsehaye after the 18-year-old Ethiopian ran a surprise 1:57.96 800m? Well she ran aggressively, took advantage of her first Diamond League opportunity, and took another second off of her personal best, finishing third in 1:56.92.
Addy Wiley was the top American, taking sixth in 1:59.22. Running her first race in more than two months, Sage Hurta-Klecker finished 10th in 2:02.78. Earlier in the meet, Raevyn Rogers, whose 1:57.94 season’s best wasn’t enough to get her into the top heat of the 800m, won the B heat in 1:59.77.
In the steeplechase, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, the reigning Olympic champion, earned her first Diamond League steeplechase win of the season, holding off Kenya’s Faith Cherotich, 9:00.04 to 9:01.90. Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani was the best of the rest, running 9:05.55 for third.
Because of the race’s more conservative start, Lexy Halladay-Lowry was able to hang with the lead pack longer than we tend to see from the top Americans in Diamond League steeples these days. And it felt just like old times, watching her battle her former NCAA rival Doris Lemngole of Kenya. Lemngole got the edge, taking fourth in 9:07.09 and Halladay-Lowry took fifth in 9:08.35, shaving 0.33 seconds off of her personal best.
After USAs, Halladay-Lowry said she felt like she was just getting started because she had been injured earlier in the season, and she backed that up in Lausanne.
In Sunday’s meet in Silesia, it looked like Australia’s Jessica Hull would be rewarded with a 1500m win for running a smart, patient race. But just as she made her move to the front, Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, the 2024 World indoor champion in the 800m, made an even bigger move, which brought her from fifth to first. She outkicked Hull for the win, 3:55.06 to 3:55.20. Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi ran 3:55.58 for third, and in front of a home crowd, Klaudia Kazimierska took fourth and lowered the Polish record to 3:55.59, a 2+ second personal best.
Emily Mackay, who has been busy getting ready for her wedding next month, was the top U.S. athlete, taking fifth in a season’s best of 3:56.24. It was a tougher day for Nikki Hiltz (10th in 4:00.52) and Sinclaire Johnson (15th in 4:04.93). Hiltz wrote in an Instagram story, “Not my best race out there today but it’s all part of the journey! Grateful I have a couple more opportunities this season to compete against the world’s best.”
I expected a fast 5,000m, but no one wanted to set a quick pace, so it played out more like a championship race. And no one is tougher in a championship race right now than Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, who just won the 5K/10K double at the European Championships.She used a 58.59-second final lap to win in 14:54.09. Ethiopia Freweyni Hailu took second (14:54.62) and Commonwealth Games 5K/10K champion Rose Davies of Australia took third in 14:55.39. The slower start and fast finish didn’t play to Alicia Monson’s strengths and the lone American in the field (outside of pacer Gracie Morris) took 18th in 15:03.46. (Lausanne results | Silesia results | Lausanne 800m replay | Lausanne steeplechase replay)
Other News, Results, and Links
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon shared that she is ending her season because the hamstring injury she’s been dealing with since May has been taking longer than expected to heal.
Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay, a 2:10:51 marathoner, won Sunday’s Media Maratón Ciudad de Buenos Aires in a speedy 1:03:57. She said afterward that she hoped to run a bit faster, but she felt some discomfort in her leg. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Girmawit Gebrzihair won Sunday’s Antrim Coast Half Marathon in 1:06:13 and Dakotah Popehn was the top American woman, running 1:08:47 for fifth. (This is the closest thing to accurate results I can find at the moment, and last year’s winner is listed.)
Great Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant won the 1500m at the BMC Record Breaker meet in London, running 4:06.29, and Lindsey Butler took second in 4:06.83. (Results)
Defending champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya headlines the field for the New York City Marathon, which will take place November 1. And it’s good to see the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan back for another crack at the course, after she struggled to a sixth-place finish in her debut at the race last year. (Obiri, too, finished sixth in New York in her debut on the course, but it was also her first marathon, period.) The field features solid depth, and assuming they all make it to the starting line healthy, it’s going to be interesting to see which U.S. athletes lead the way as Jess McClain, Fiona O’Keeffe, Weini Kelati (who is debuting), Annie Frisbie, Carrie Ellwood, and Erika Kemp battle. (Full field announcement)
USATF announced last week that for the sixth Olympic cycle in a row, the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will take place in Eugene, Oregon. No shock there, but what was previously a 10-day meet with two rest days in the middle will be condensed to six days, and the 10,000m, heptathlon, and decathlon will take place earlier in the spring, with the dates and locations to be announced soon. I’ll be interested to see how all of that plays out. With the marathon trials scheduled for March 25, 2028, it will likely be tougher for marathoners to use the 10,000m as their backup plan. And I hope the 10,000m and multis can pack a stadium, but I fear that conducting those events separately is going to remove some of what makes competing at the Trials special. I’d love to be wrong about that. On the plus side, I love all of the Trials events and there will now be more of them to follow in 2028. Jonathan Gault reported that the 5,000m will be a straight final, which means the qualifying standard will almost certainly be tougher than ever before, and fewer athletes will be accepted into the meet. He also pointed out that there will be only a 23-day gap between the end of the Trials and the start of the Olympic track & field events.
When experienced runners tell you the race course was not the right distance, believe them. Many runners at the Edmonton Half Marathon—which served as the Canadian championship—and Marathon knew something was up before the race was over, but event organizers originally denied there was a problem. But two days after the event, they acknowledged that both races were 674.4 meters too long. Half marathon champ Jadyn Keeler shows up as having run 1:12:12 in the results, but that means she ran 1:09:57.8 half marathon pace for about 13.53 miles, on what isn’t a particularly fast course even when it’s the right length. Keeler acknowledged on social media that she has her eye on Andrea Seccafien’s Canadian record of 1:09:38. Next up, she’ll race another half at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on September 20. Before event organizers acknowledged the error, men’s half marathon winner Rory Linkletter posted about his frustration on social media. Jess McClain, who was led off course while leading the U.S. half marathon championships earlier this year had the top comment: “Big fan of running extra in half marathons,” she wrote.
This is quite the story, about competitive age-group runners Lisa Zappala, 65, and Nadine Palmer, 58, who kept their Boston Marathon streaks alive this year despite both receiving lung cancer diagnoses. The two are roommates and both were spending significant time training on the treadmill in their basement. And it turned out that the radon levels down there were four times higher than the acceptable limit.
Saturday’s Crim 10-Mile was delayed and then shortened to 5 miles due to heavy rain and lightning. Ethiopia’s Werkuha Getachew outran Kenya’s Everlyn Kemboi, 26:21 to 26:23. (Amy Davis-Green, who finished fourth, commented on social media that she thought the course was a bit long. And after the Edmonton situation, I’m more inclined than ever to believe the runners.) (Results)
I appreciated Caroline Price’s Guardian article from a few weeks back about politicians working to dismantle DEI initiatives at SEC schools while those schools rely heavily on Black athletes to win titles. The article centers on University of Georgia gymnast Nyla Aquino, but it could have just as easily been about a track & field athlete.
Podcast Highlights
Molly Seidel discussed her decision to withdraw from OCC on The Freetrail Podcast, saying she is still recovering from the Western States 100. But she’s in Chamonix, France, training on the course and doing some information gathering for the future.
Vanessa Fraser discussed her return to full-time professional running, her struggles with R-CPD (aka “no burp syndrome”), and her 4:31 mile with her dog on I’ll Have Another. For more on her dog mile, she also spoke to Runner’s World.
I enjoyed learning more about U.S. 10,000m champion Sydney Vaught on C Tolle Run, it was also good to hear from cross-country skiing legend Jessie Diggins, who is exploring trail racing a bit more in retirement, on Nobody Asked Us, and Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Sarah Czuprynski was on Road to the Trials
I’ve assembled this newsletter more hastily than I would have liked, It’s late, and I have a big week ahead—unfortunately not in an enjoyable way. But the theme of this summer has been trying to find fun moments while doing tedious and unpleasant tasks.
Thanks again to D+M Engineering PLLC for supporting Fast Women this month, and I hope you all have the best week possible.
Alison
There is so much more to unpack in your sensitive words about Jenny Simpson and your husband Parker and life. I’m not the writer you are to express the gratitude I feel for those sentiments but please know there is gratitude out here for all you do.
I love starting Mondays by reading your newsletter!! I was glad to hear Molly Seidel withdrew from the OCC - it shows she has learned to listen to her own needs and not everyone else’s!! And wow, crazy about the lung cancer story. Makes me want to test the radon in our basement. Thanks again for all your words about Parker and Jenny (thinking of you and your girls!) - and a reminder to all to get CPR training every two years. Mine was offered for free by my workplace.