Each time she lines up for a race, Faith Swaby has one goal: to finish the race before her.

Faith, an incoming senior at Beech High School, has found tremendous success in distance running. She fell in love with the sport in sixth grade and has competed every school year since, her top-notch conditioning, focus, stamina, and endurance on full display.

Until 2021, Faith also ran with a severe curvature in her spine, commonly known as scoliosis. Her curvature increased from 37 to 61 percent in roughly a year, then to 63 percent by the end of her freshman season. It was then that Faith and her family made the difficult decision to undergo surgical correction of the spine, knowing the road to recovery would be difficult.

After two rods, 20-inch screws, and a spinal fusion, Faith would begin the process of healing. Just like when she lined up for races in the years’ prior, she had one goal in mind: finish the race.

“Before the surgery, I took for granted the opportunity that running provides,” shares Faith. “I would get nervous about competitions and at times I felt like I did not want to be out there. But after the surgery and recovery, I realized how blessed I was to be out with such a great team. I started to enjoy racing so much more after I was out of it for a bit.”

Her team helped get Faith through the difficult moments of recovery and was pivotal to her success when she started racing again in 2022. For the month that she was homebound after surgery, teammates would come to the Swaby’s home each week to encourage and support Faith and she healed.

“They lifted me up and helped me know I wasn’t walking through the challenges on my own,” Faith says.

Faith’s endurance was just a reminder to her of what she had experienced, both in the immediate and long-term recoveries. Finishing the races was her goal during her sophomore season, and just under a year after her surgery she finished the 2022 Tennessee Class AAA Cross Country State Meet in 62nd place with a time of 21:15.05.

In 2023, Faith’s commitment to the sport and success skyrocketed. Her teammates noticed and followed her lead.

“She ran races with everything she had,” former Beech Cross County Coach Ed Ahlmeyer says. “She led by example. When I found out about the surgery, I asked Faith if she wanted to do a little less and she never would. She always wanted to do what the team did, and she would show her teammates what it meant to finish the race well. She’d take off in the last mile and keep running.”

Faith’s 2023 season concluded with a 15th-place finish in the state meet, where she ran a personal-best time of 18:55.59. That effort qualified her for a place on the podium and the designation of becoming the fourth-fastest girls cross country runner in Beech High School history. She is also the 2024 recipient of the Tennessean's Kaia Jergenson Courage Award, which goes annually to a Middle Tennessee athlete who has shown bravery and positivity in facing a life-altering situation.

“I have learned that when you really tell yourself you can do it, push through the pain, and when you rely on each other and have a positive mindset, you can do anything you want to,” Faith shares when asked about her success. “That’s what I want others to hear from my story, and the support of my teammates and coaches.

”As she looks toward her senior year, Faith has big goals for both for herself and her Beech teammates. She hopes to finish in the top 10 in the state individually, and wants to see the team improve on last season’s third-place showing in the state. But beyond the on-course success, she wants to remind anyone going through a difficult life challenge that they can win by persevering, by finishing the race.

She’s living proof!