Competing in a co-ed time trial on her home Crest Athletics Track in New South Wales, Nike professional runs personal-best 8:41.80 in a driving rainstorm to grab top spot in virtual competition that concludes at the end of July

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Although the mark won’t officially make Jessica Hull the No. 3 outdoor performer in her country’s history, the 24-year-old Nike professional did produce the fastest women’s 3,000-meter time ever run on an Australian track by clocking 8 minutes, 41.80 seconds in a driving rainstorm Sunday during a time trial as part of the Steigen World Virtual 3K Challenge at the Bankstown Winter Distance meet at The Crest Athletics Track in New South Wales.

Fellow professionals Chloe Tighe, 30, and Rose Davies, 21, clocked 8:54.90 and 8:58.90, respectively, with 13-year-old Sarah Baker finishing in 10:13.10.

RESULTS | VIDEO

Hull, a member of the unnamed training group coached by Pete Julian, benefited from a pair of male athletes pacing the race through 2:53 at the 1,000-meter split and 5:45 at the 2,000-meter mark. She entered the final lap at 7:30 on her way to unofficially achieving the No. 4 outdoor mark in the world this year.

The fastest female time previously run on Australian soil was 8:43.14 achieved by Great Britain’s Liz McColgan in 1990 in Sydney. The top 3,000 track performance by an Australian distance athlete in her home country prior to Sunday was 8:48.48 by Kate Anderson-Richardson in 1997 in Hobart.

Among Australian marks produced in official races, only the national record of 8:38.06 set in 2003 in Great Britain by Benita Willis-Johnson and the 8:41.78 by Eloise Wellings in 2006 in Greece are faster than Hull’s performance Sunday.

Hull had an indoor 3,000 personal best of 8:53.91 last year at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle, along with an 8:56.61 indoor effort Feb. 28 in Boston. Her fastest outdoor 3,000 before Sunday was still 9:08.85 from the 2014 World U-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Should Hull’s time remain the fastest among all female athletes entered in the Steigen World Virtual 3K Challenge, she will receive $2,000 in prize money, along with the men’s winner, with the leader currently Stewart McSweyn at 7:39.18.

The contest ends July 31, with 30-year-old Australian standout Genevieve Gregson, who boasts an 8:45.81 personal best, only running 8:56 on Tuesday.