Suzanne Swift: The owner of Fleet Feet has had heartache, headache and happiness all wrapped into 56 years, and in some ways her life has only just begun

STORY BY BOB LABBE | PHOTOS BY JOSHUA BERRY |Living 50 Plus

Simply put, Suzanne Swift has had a life like no other. She feels there’s nothing else she wants to do with her life and is happy where she is both emotionally and physically. She’s had heartache, headache and happiness all wrapped into 56 years, and in some ways, her life has only just begun.

As current co-owner of Fleet Feet with her son, Skylor Taylor, and stepson, Alan Taylor, the Huntsville store location opened in 2004 while the Madison store opened its doors in 2020 and has expanded to having 50-70 employees, depending on the season, which includes 12 fulltime workers. Swift’s Fleet Feet is ranked among the top five Fleet Feet stores in the United States as the business is geared to the sport of running. “Yes, all is well as the Madison location is going great as the Madison folks love our location,” said Swift of the business she originally opened with her ex-husband Dink Taylor, whom she divorced in 2022.

Swift knows all too well life can be amazing even when it’s challenging. At Fleet Feet, Swift incorporated a business slogan of “Running Changes Everything,” and no better example of how true the slogan really is comes from Swift’s life, which began in Houston, Texas born to parents Earl and Modell Swift. Growing up in the heart of the city which is now the fourth largest in the country, Swift has two brothers and a sister and said her older brother, 13 years her senior, was a guide for her in her early life as she was little bit of a tomboy and fell into the sport of competitive swimming where she concentrated in the 1,000-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter IM races. She swam as many as five hours a day and during the summer months staying at poolside was part of her life with dreams of being an Olympian. She said at one point as a teen, “I found out I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. Looking back, I see how the long swims carried over to running, which I began doing to lose weight and in the late 80’s met a guy who was a runner and who bought me a pair of pink running shoes. In 1992, I ran my first marathon tackling the course of the Houston Marathon. I thought I’d run one and be done, but I found out running and anything associated with the sport was a way to help manage my stress in life.”

She became involved with the local running community and soon began to work as race directors for several races while working for a company in the oil-gas business before making a change and started working for the Houston Marathon. It’s was during that time in her young life she found her passion and loved her life.

Participating in numerous triathlons and running races, Swift ran her first Boston Marathon in 1996 as she learned very quickly she went out too fast in the first 10 miles of the scheduled 26. She didn’t return to the famed race until 2000, which she said, “Was a big year for me as I was in great shape, I had met someone from Huntsville who would change my running and my life forever.” At that Boston race, her father was there offering support waiting at the finish line cheering on Swift like he had done so many times before at swim meets and running races, even though he and Swift’s mother divorced when Swift was just seven years old.

What looked like a promising start to the new century in 2000 turned tragically wrong in June while she was participating in the Yosemite, Cal. Half-Marathon trail race. The grueling course, located at the National Park, Swift was faring well until at one point she stumbled and fell. The result was a broken right leg. She broke her femur and is not sure if she already had a stress fracture she wasn’t aware of or did the break come as the result of the fall, but in one quick blink of an eye, her life changed and in some ways forever.

“I was carried out of the area on a board, rushed to the hospital where that night surgeons inserted a permanent titanium rod in what was a traumatic surgery and time in my life,” said Swift. “I didn’t know if I would ever walk again without a limp, run again or even live without pain. It took me two years to recover. I have a huge scar on my leg from surgery. I was heartbroken. I was hurt mentally and physically.”

To make her life even more complicated she and her soon to be husband moved to Huntsville and she became pregnant with Skylor all while still recovering from her leg surgery. Her life was about to make a turn towards what was to become positive, but not without a lot of anguish, disappointment and more tragedy.

On what was a beautiful day in May, 2006, Swift received a phone call from her dad she will never forget. He told her he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and his condition was serious. She drove non-stop to Houston to be by his side, like so many times he did with her as a young girl and later a young woman. He died 21 days later. In what many people may consider unusual, but for the family was the right thing to do, her father was buried at Newton Cemetery located at the top of Newton Hills, which overlooks the course of the Boston Marathon.

“From that moment,” said Swift, “It became a tradition to visit my dad the day before the Boston Marathon and I think of him each time I pass by.”

Another memorable day for Swift and all of America and especially those directly involved with the Boston Marathon came on April 15, 2013, the 117th running of the 26.2-mile race that was tragically marred by the explosions of two homemade bombs hidden in backpacks, which occurred near the finish line. The detonated devices killed three people and injured more than 260. A manhunt ensued over the next few days with two self-radicalized brothers found to be responsible for the largest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.

Swift had actually just crossed the finish line of the race mere seconds before the first bomb went off at 2:49 p.m. ET. The second bomb was detonated 14 seconds later and 210 yards apart from the first. The unbelievable had happened and Swift was there to witness the carnage.

“I had struggled with injuries mostly due to my femoral rod in my right leg, but I was committed to race and even thought it would be my last marathon,” said Swift. “Our trip went as expected as we visited my father’s burial spot as we have family plots next to him. He used to love to watch me run as he was not a runner, but he would meet with me on races. He was always there. His burial site was his place just for that reason. On race day, the event started normally with a beautiful Boston day. I waved to my dad as we passed his burial spot, which is located at mile 18 of the race. I pushed to the finish line. Then, all hell broke loose. I heard and felt the first explosion and then the second went off. Race officials told us to run. I had my phone with me and I called my husband, who had already ran the race and was back at the hotel. Skylor answered and I told him of what had just happened as shortly after that call all of the local cell phone networks were turned off for security reasons. I finally made it back to our hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, and we tracked down all of our friends who were there. It was a bizarre day, a very eerie kind of feeling. It was a day I can never forget.”

Swift did return and run the Boston Marathon a couple more times, but, for her, like so many others, the race was never the same. She has continued to run marathons and other races. In all, she has challenged over 20-plus marathons, one Ironman, six Half-Ironman events and even used her naturally born talents to participate in three marathon swims. She and her ex-husband were race directors of many events in Huntsville over a 14-year period.

In many ways, life was grand for Swift, but soon she came face-to-face with more personal struggles that opened her eyes to how life can experience off-road bumps and bruises and present life-altering circumstances.

For all her love for swimming and running, Swift seemed to always be in the direct sunlight and in January, 2014, she found a clear spot on her left leg that just didn’t look normal. Upon a visit to a doctor and subsequent biopsy, she was told she had a malignant melanoma and she needed surgery for the skin cancer. Through intense concerns, research and preparation, she decided to undergo removal of the cancer. The procedure also included the removal of several lymph nodes and has left her with a huge scar on her leg. Not long after that traumatic time, Swift then found a cancer spot on her right shoulder and left eye lid, which resulted her reconstructing her left eye.

In 2020, her business hit a stone wall with the COVID pandemic. Like many businesses, Fleet Feet somehow survived with a bevy of faithful customers and expert handling of business affairs. In 2022, her 21 years of marriage fell apart and she soon divorced, while a year later her mother passed away at age 90.

“My duties with Fleet Feet have changed somewhat as I’ve pushed some duties to others like Skylor and Alan, but I’m still heavily involved,” said Swift. “Actually, we never setup Fleet Feet to make a lot of money. It was more of a community assistance type of business to support the running community. With gift certificates and other items, we donate about $100-thousand annually to local organizations. My future thoughts on the business include to try and get to a place where the boys and team members run the business without much guidance.”

Swift recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of a second, but personal business called Swift Recovery located in Jones Valley in Huntsville. She personally struggled with staying fit, especially with her injuries, and was in and out of physical therapy. So, she came up with the idea of a core business to help remove inflammation from the body without drugs, but utilizing an assemblage of therapies all of which are wellness services to help the body recoup from any physical or mental stress.

“I wasn’t planning on starting another business in my mid 50’s, but I saw we had a lot of athletes and many older folks who just want a better quality of life,” said Swift. “This recovery works. We have people who purchase long-term memberships after surgeries. We have some who just want to come in and relax. We fit our services to what they want or need. Many times we’re like therapists as we listen to them while they talk about their problems while they’re doing the modalities. We have several wellness services to choose from. I do all of them myself.”

The plan was for Swift to return to the Boston Marathon for the 2025 race, but life struggles and past experiences all caught up with her as she had to cancel her race plans and her usual visit with her father’s burial place. It just wasn’t in the cards for the 5-foot-4, 110-pound true athlete and survivor. “I just couldn’t make the race. I had an emotional release as I had to let go as I was not in a good place mentality to run. This was a first for me since my divorce,” said Swift.

She hopes to return to Boston to run and have a special visit with her father as she continues to celebrate the freedom and joy that comes from running and overcoming life annoyances through physical and mental survival. As suggested in the 1997 song “Tubthumping” with lyrics which read, “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down,” Swift has continued to survive and help the local community as she has for years.

“I’m happy with life. There’s nothing missing in my life. Life is better. It’s really not bad being single,” added Swift.