Off the path

Executive: Sarasota Ballet Managing Director Mary Anne Servian. Servian ran a business brokerage firm in Sarasota in the 1990s with her late husband, Robert Servian. She was an executive with a software firm and a savings and loan institution in Pennsylvania before that. Servian served on the Sarasota City Commission from 2001 to 2007, and was mayor from 2005-2006. She's been with the ballet since 2010, and was named managing director in 2011.

Diversion: Walking/trail hiking. Servian takes at least 90-minute walks every weekday morning, going three to five miles. She sometimes walks eight to 10 miles on Saturdays or Sundays.

Old days: The daughter of a golf pro, Servian regularly ran in half-marathons, biked and was an eight handicap golfer when she lived in suburban Philadelphia. In March 1989 she slipped on black ice outside and suffered a spinal fracture. Servian had five back surgeries from 1989-1995. “An amazing doctor put me back together again,” says Servian. “But he told me my days of running, golfing and biking were over.”

New joy: Servian's doctors instructed her to get her strength up before one surgery by walking. She was familiar with the Gulf Coast from previous family trips, and she rented an apartment near Lido Beach, where she walked every day for months. Walking was so therapeutic it became her new passion. “You can get very depressed,” after a major injury like she had, says Servian. “But I was determined not to let that stop me. I was determined to get myself back into top physical shape.”

Different career: On her Lido Beach walks Servian would often stop at a bagel store on St. Armands Circle, where she met a group of retirees, all men, who chatted about politics. It was from those conversations that Servian became interested in Sarasota politics and government. Later, when she was on the city commission, Servian would drive to a neighborhood in her district for a walk. That was one way she interacted with citizens.

Tragic situation: Servian was into hiking before walking. She hiked major trails in Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, among other states. Those hikes were with her late husband, Robert Servian, who died in 2010 while hiking alone in near Rutland, Vt. Robert Servian was missing for seven months before his body was found.

Beautiful sights: Despite the tragedy, Mary Anne Servian has fond memories of many of those mountain hikes, especially the Presidential Range in New Hampshire. Says Servian: “That's the most glorious place you could be in the world.”

Cathartic time: Servian says going for long walks was her only place of solace during the difficult period in 2010 when Robert Servian was missing. There were updates from police and dozens of phone calls, from reporters to people who wanted to see how she was doing. While appreciative of the concern, Servian says she also wanted time on her own. “Walking,” she says, “was the only time I could deal with it by just being by myself.”

Inner strength: Servian, who married commercial real estate developer John Simon in May, now walks every day for mental and physical health. She leaves her house, in east Manatee County, by 6:30 or 7 a.m. She rarely listens to music while she walks, and she says she almost never thinks about anything work-related. If and when it's light enough, she will watch birds. “I'm very much aware of my surroundings,” she says. “Walking is an opportunity to seek peace.”

This story was updated to reflect the correct date Mary Anne Servian married John Simon.