Peabody's 'Heather MacLean Day' Set To Honor Hometown Olympian

PEABODY, MA — Peabody will officially honor hometown Olympic hero Heather MacLean with a ceremony set for Saturday at the spot where her remarkable run to the Tokyo Games first began.

The celebration will begin at 10 a.m. with the ceremony to be held on the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School track.

"Heather MacLean Day in Peabody will be an opportunity to show Heather how much we appreciate and admire her hard work and determination — and how proud we all are of our hometown Olympic hero," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said.

MacLean, who graduated from Peabody High and UMass-Amherst, qualified for the Olympics in the 1,500 meters with a top-three finish at the U.S. Trials in Oregon in July.

She then advanced to the semifinals with a preliminary run that drew hundreds to the Leather City Common for a viewing party on July 25. Her quest for a medal then ended against a world-class field in the semifinals on Aug. 4.

Bettencourt said two weeks ago he was working with the MacLean family to find a day that worked best for the 25-year-old to be honored.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)