Peabody's Heather MacLean Running Down An Unlikely Dream

PEABODY, MA — Heather MacLean walked on the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School track and field team for the first time a little more than a decade ago as a 16-year-old girl with no organized running training and no clue about the boundless possibilities that were in front of her in the sport.

The 27-year-old MacLean is now a U.S. Olympian, the reigning mile champion from the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix held in her hometown backyard in Boston last month, and one of the marquee professional athletes on the New Balance racing team.

As one of the American faces of a sport in which she admits, at times, that she still feels like a relative newcomer, The PVMS and University of Massachusetts alumna is keenly aware of how her story can serve as a model for young, and even not-so-young, girls on the North Shore.

"This was a career I never saw myself having," she told Patch in an interview Friday morning. "Even up until a few years ago, I never really thought that was a reality. The fact that I'm doing it now and that it's my passion, I love what I do. I love going to practice every day. I love traveling and getting to meet new people in the sport, and just getting better, and seeing what I can accomplish.

"I think hopefully it sets a good tone for younger athletes who are coming into the sport. Even if it's not going to be a long-term thing like it is for me it can make a big impact on them just in that time."

MacLean said joining the Peabody girls track team gave her a sense of community, a friend group and a support structure she did not realize was possible for her in sports.

"The beautiful thing about track and field is that everyone comes from a different background," she said. "I just think I am one of those unique backgrounds who came into the sport later and am now able to compete at this level. I found with a lot of the individuals I've been competing against that they've been doing the sport their whole lives. Their parents were Olympians. Their parents were professional runners. I am happy I can bring in a background that's different from that to offer a different perspective to students.

"As I got older I was able to see that it doesn't matter where you came from it just matters that you are at the starting line, that you made it here now, and that you belong here."

Next week, she is hoping that her influence in the sport will help one or more of the current talented crop of Tanner runners turn that inner spark into a raging competitive fire in the sport as she combines with New Balance to offer 16 complimentary entries for qualifying Peabody athletes into the New Balance Nationals Indoor being held at The TRACK at New Balance in Brighton on March 10-12.

As the sport continues to grow in Massachusetts and throughout New England, The TRACK at New Balance adds another world-class training and racing facility to the regional landscape that can help North Shore kids looking to follow in MacLean's speedy footsteps into the upper echelons of the sport.

"High school kids these days are running super fast times," she said. "I see high school records falling at Peabody High all the time. It's incredible. I think part of it is that they have access to places like the New Balance TRACK.

"I am excited to see where the future of the sport goes."

When MacLean stormed down the stretch to win a thrilling mile at last month's National Grand Prix the roar from the crowd left little doubt about the popularity that MacLean is bringing to the sport in Greater Boston.

She told reporters that day that she insisted to friends and family who had never seen that level of competition live prior to the event that the meet would "change your perspective on the sport."

She then went out on the track and delivered the ultimate closing statement on her bold declaration.

"I feel like a lot of people know me now from the North Shore and running track and field," she said. "And now there are people who are following the sport who wouldn't normally follow track and field because they know who I am as a person.

"They know me, and they like me, and now it's bringing more fans to the sport."

When MacLean reflects upon how she has excelled after finding the sport of track and field "by accident" she reflects upon an experience that is both powerfully endearing and inspirationally tangible for any high school athlete who is looking for a direction in athletics and all that is possible when they find the one that is right for them.

"I was never forced into it," she said. "I never had people driving me everywhere. I found my way to and from practice every day. I found out that I love the sport. I stumbled upon it later and was able to develop the way I have.

"Honestly, if I hadn't done that I don't know what path my in life would have taken me."

(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.)