By Rich Sands, @thatrichsands.bsky.social | (c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved; used with permission
HONOLULU (06-Dec) -– Heather MacLean wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to watch the Paris Olympics this past summer. She had come up short in her bid to qualify in the 1500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, and after making the team for Tokyo three years ago it was especially disappointing.
“I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to watch and then I ended up watching every single race,” MacLean told Race Results Weekly in an interview here yesterday ahead of the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on Saturday. “I cheered-on all the U.S. athletes. I still took part in the way that I could. It’s everybody’s goal, and I’ve made it before so I know how exciting that can be. That’s the hard part: everybody wants it, but only three people go.”
The fact that she had even been in contention for an Olympic berth was a tremendous accomplishment given that she had only been training for five months after injuries had sidelined her for most of the 2023 season. And, in fact, MacLean had nearly pulled it off. Running a strategically savvy race in the Trials final, she had quietly moved herself into second place with one lap to go and was challenging for the lead down the final backstretch at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Alas, her lack of training finally caught up with her at the end. “I was fighting for my life that last 100. I was racing so above my fitness at the time,” she admitted. “I really gave it my all and that’s something I’ve been working on, making sure I’m going into every single race giving it my all. I can really say that I did that in that race, and that’s something to be proud of. I didn’t make the team, but I did get a fast time, my PR.”
The University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate wound up seventh overall in the deepest race in U.S. history, clocking 3:58.31.
Adding to her complicated feelings, her two primary training partners on coach Mark Coogan’s New Balance Boston squad, Emily Mackay and Elle St. Pierre, had made the team, finishing second and third, respectively.
“It’s a hard balance, because I wanted to show my support,” the 29-year-old MacLean said of her decision to tune-in for the Olympics. “You admire these people who made it, but you also feel sad for yourself because you wanted to be one of those individuals. Everyone wants that fairy-tale ending: everything you went through was worth it because you made the team. But I’ve been coming to terms more recently with [the fact that] I didn’t make the team, and the process that I went through is going to help me in the future.”
Following the Olympic berth in 2021 and another strong campaign in 2022 (including a U.S. indoor title in the 1500), MacLean saw her momentum disrupted last year. An injury to her right leg that was originally diagnosed as iliotibial band syndrome turned out to be a stress fractures in her femur and a stress reaction in her tibia. After finishing seventh at the USATF Outdoor Championships in July, she called it a season.
The recovery was drawn out, and she was off her feet for several months. In late October, she started swimming for fitness. “I didn’t know how to swim, so I had to learn,” she said with a laugh. “That was one of the exciting things that came out of this. Though I’m not very good!”
About a month later that evolved into aqua-jogging in the pool, and by the end of the year she was running on dry land again, but just a mile every other day. A winter training camp at high altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, was a humbling experience, but she steadily worked her way into racing shape.
Her spring results were encouraging. In May she finished first in her section of the 1500 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, followed by another win at the HBCU Pro Classic in Atlanta. She sharpened up for the Olympic Trials with a personal best in the 800 (1:58.77).
At the Trials, she made it through the rounds and was feeling confident. Though the end result in the final wasn’t what she was hoping for (“I had a really good 1400 meters,” she joked), MacLean was ultimately grateful for the experience. “You want it to come together at the perfect time, and it did — I PR’d at the Olympic Trials,” she said. “I just wasn’t quite in the shape that I needed to be in to make the team. That’s a hard pill to swallow. It made me excited.”
With a solid fall training base in the bank, she’s looking ahead to the 2025 season, where she hopes to make the U.S. team for the world championships both indoors (in Nanjing, China, in March) and outdoors (in Tokyo in September). “Last year I had some trouble getting into races, so I’d like to have a good indoor season to prove my fitness,” she said. “It would be great to be part of [Michael Johnson’s new] Grand Slam [league], maybe get an opportunity to be a challenger in one of those meets. I’m looking forward to having a healthy year of racing.”
Saturday’s Kalakaua Merrie Mile, held steps away from the beach in Waikiki, presents a chance to break up her training, test her fitness, and escape the chilly Boston weather. In the unique pursuit format, the women’s field will start 32 seconds ahead of the men, with the $18,000 prize pool awarded based on the overall order of finish, including $7,500 for the winner.
“The times here are actually pretty fast, because nobody can jog it. You don’t know when the men’s field is going to come after you,” said MacLean, who previously ran the event in 2022. “I have been looking forward to this all fall. The field is incredible, but it’s on the road, which takes a lot of the pressure off. It’s a premiere event and I’m very grateful to have been invited.”
