Newest Nike Oregon Project member returns to track following first professional altitude training camp in Utah, looking to produce memorable mile racing for first time with teammate Klosterhalfen 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The Nike Oregon Project has been synonymous with historic success in the mile this year, highlighted by world records from Sifan Hassan and Yomif Kejelcha, and the group’s newest member, former Oregon standout and Australian professional athlete Jessica Hull, looks to add another impressive chapter Sunday with teammate Konstanze Klosterhalfen at the Muller Grand Prix, the annual Birmingham Diamond League Meeting at Alexander Stadium in England.

Although Hull made her Diamond League debut June 30 in the 1,500 meters at the Prefontaine Classic at Stanford University, her entry in the Millicent Fawcett Mile marks the first race in Europe in her career, joining national record holders Linden Hall of Australia, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford of Canada and Germany’s Klosterhalfen.

“I’m really excited to race an outdoor mile. I think I’ve only run the mile maybe three times outdoors, so it will be fun to see how well my indoor mile experience lines up on the full-size track,” said Hull, who last competed in an outdoor mile in 2015 in Australia.

“Coming off Pre, I’m hoping to race well enough to align my mile PR to my 1,500, but at the same time, I just want to improve on my competitiveness. At Prefontaine, I had no change of gears over the last 300 meters and ran very even. If I can run even in a mile race too, that will be great. But I’d really like to see myself improve on my close a little bit, regardless of the overall time.”

The last time a Diamond League event highlighted the women’s mile was July 12 in Monaco, when Dutch star Hassan eclipsed the world record by clocking 4 minutes, 12.33 seconds to take down the 1996 mark of 4:12.56 produced by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova.

Hassan’s performance came a little more than four months after Ethiopian talent Kejelcha clocked 3:47.01 at Boston University to smash the indoor mile world record of 3:48.45 held since 1997 by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj.

Kejelcha had missed his previous attempt Feb. 9 at the 112th NYRR Millrose Games by eight-thousandths of a second, when he and Klosterhalfen both captured the Wanamaker Mile titles at The Armory in New York City.

Although Klosterhalfen will be aiming Sunday for the German outdoor mile mark of 4:21.59 held since 1985 by Ulrike Bruns, she ran the overall national mile record of 4:19.98 indoors to win the women’s Wanamaker title.

“It’s really great to be able to train with this team. They put everything on a higher level, the sessions are more intense and it’s a different structure (than I had in Germany),” Klosterhalfen said. “Bringing all these world-class athletes together to train on this level and to be able to do their stuff, I’m very thankful for all of it.”

Hull and Klosterhalfen, both 22, raced at the Prefontaine Classic, albeit in different events. Hull ran a personal-best 4:02.62 in the 1,500, the fastest time by an Australian this year, with Hassan (8:18.49) and Klosterhalfen (8:20.07) elevating to the Nos. 4 and 6 all-time performers in the 3,000, including the two fastest female athletes in European history.

But after bonding at a recent altitude training camp in Utah, Hull and Klosterhalfen will compete together Sunday for the first time in their careers.

“I can’t wait to line up with Koko this weekend. I have learnt so much from her in just the last couple of weeks of working out together and training in Park City,” Hull said. “Perhaps what I’m most excited about is the fact that this is the first time we’ll line up together, and hopefully we will start to show a little bit of what we will be doing alongside each other over the next 10 to 12 years. It’s the first of many, many to come.”

Hull will also have the opportunity to race against Australian legend Hall for the second time after prevailing against the national record holder in the 1,500 at the Prefontaine Classic. Hall ran the Australian mile record 4:21.40 at last year’s London Diamond League meeting.

“It will be great to have Linden out there, too,” said Hull, whose fastest career mile came indoors in January, when she ran 4:31.03 in Arkansas.

“Lining up in a mile with a fellow Aussie who has learnt to be comfortable over the American specialty in her NCAA experiences as well is so fitting. And it’s always nice to hear a familiar accent. There’s quite a few Aussies in Birmingham this weekend.”

Hull hasn’t raced for nearly a month, since her personal-best 2:03.78 effort July 19 in the 800 meters at Stumptown Twilight, with Klosterhalfen taking a quick break from altitude workouts to travel to Berlin to win the 5,000 title Aug. 3 at the German Championships.

Hull is excited to see how the extended training period under the guidance of Nike Oregon Project coach Pete Julian sets her up, not only for the race in Birmingham, but as she continues to prepare for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in October in Doha, Qatar.

“I’ve done my first little bit of real altitude. Aside from a sunriver, which isn’t really that high, I haven’t done anything like this, so it has been interesting to learn how my body responds. Knock on wood, altitude agrees with me, so far,” Hull said. “After Prefontaine I was able to take a few down days and a week away from workouts. I didn’t feel like I needed it and it was kind of hard to do this coming off such an exciting race. I just wanted to keep rolling. But it was important to refresh because there’s still a ways to go this season.

“The Stumptown 800 was really exciting. It was nice to come away with a small PR, but I still feel like there’s more to take off there. I think my body takes a couple of 800s to really get rolling and each time I’ve done an 800 this year, it’s been a one off, rather than a consistent few weeks in a row. After Stumptown, we were able to kick off this block of training, get completely moved to Portland and start hitting the stronger workouts again. We were able to cycle through a condensed training block again with the time period, so we’ve been working on getting stronger, and we’ll get faster over the coming weeks.”

Following Sunday’s race, Hull will next compete either Sept. 1 in the 5,000 at ISTAF Berlin or Sept. 3 in the 1,500 at the IAAF World Challenge Zagreb in Croatia. And Hull knows her performance in Birmingham will definitely factor in Julian’s decision.

“Pete will decide based on what I need after the mile this weekend,” Hull said. “I’m hoping he chooses the 1,500, but the thought of a fast 5K also excites me.”