Ben Cooke

President Marathon Sports

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

Ben Cooke is President of Marathon Sports, the running specialty retailer that began in 1975 in a first-floor apartment near Harvard Square and now operates 32 stores across all six New England states. He took the role in 2022, when Fleet Feet agreed to buy the business from Colin Peddie, who had owned it for three decades, and he has run it since as a Fleet Feet subsidiary. A career-long running retail operator, he came to the job from Fleet Feet itself, and he has become a public advocate for using AI and 3D foot scanning to improve the in-store fitting experience.

Career Highlights

• President of Marathon Sports since Fleet Feet’s June 2022 agreement to acquire it, succeeding owner Colin Peddie.
• Led the 2025 acquisition of Fleet Feet Maine Running, adding stores in Portland and Brunswick, Maine, and 25 staff.
• Oversaw growth from 18 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire at the time of the deal to 32 locations across New England.
• Previously VP of business development and flagship retail at Fleet Feet, VP of operations at Running Specialty Group, and general manager of Princeton Running Company.
• Announced as a speaker for The Running Event 2026 on using AI and 3D foot scanning in running retail.

Professional Journey

Cooke has spent more than twenty years in running specialty retail. He was general manager of the former Princeton Running Company, then vice president of operations for Running Specialty Group, and most recently vice president of business development and flagship retail at Fleet Feet, which describes itself as the largest franchisor of locally owned running stores.

In June 2022 Fleet Feet announced it would acquire Marathon Sports, then 11 stores in Massachusetts together with the soundRUNNER stores in Connecticut and Runner’s Alley stores in New Hampshire, which Marathon Sports had bought in 2013 and 2015. Colin Peddie, who had taken over the single Cambridge store in 1992 and built the business around a biomechanical shoe-fitting process, was retiring, and Cooke was named to succeed him as president, running Marathon Sports as a wholly-owned Fleet Feet subsidiary.

Under Cooke the chain has kept expanding. In April 2025 Marathon Sports, then at 26 New England locations, acquired Fleet Feet Maine Running and its stores in Portland and Brunswick; announcing the deal, he said the company was excited to welcome Fleet Feet Maine Running and its 25 employees. By 2026 the company listed 32 locations across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and it was in the middle of what the trade newsletter Running Supply called “a massive rebrand.” The Running Event has announced him as a speaker for its December 2026 event, in a session on using AI and 3D foot scanning to enhance a running store’s business.

Education

No education record was found in any accepted source.