Nike Continues Shuffle of Pro Coaches

Pete Julian’s Union Athletics Club will move to Colorado. 

In the latest move by Nike to reconfigure its pro running teams, Pete Julian’s Union Athletics Club will move from Oregon to Colorado, sources tell Runner’s World. 

This move comes two weeks after it was announced that Mike Smith would leave his post at Northern Arizona University in June 2025 to start a Nike pro group. 

Julian, reached by text by Runner’s World, did not deny the team was making the move but said he was unable to comment. Media relations representatives at Nike acknowledged questions from Runner’s World on July 19 and again on August 12, but they did not reply with any further information about the group’s move. 

UAC’s 10 current athletes compete at a range of events. They include Raevyn Rogers, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalist in the 800 meters, and Sinclaire Johnson, the 2022 U.S. champion in the 1500 meters. Suguro Osako, a marathoner from Japan, is also listed on the roster; he finished 13th at the Olympics in Paris in 2:09:25. 

It is unclear if all the athletes will go to Colorado with Julian. A message to Rogers via social media was not immediately returned. Rogers has strong ties to Oregon; she went to the University of Oregon and won five individual NCAA titles there. Her image graces the tower at Hayward Field in Eugene, and she is not known to have spent much time training at altitude, if any. 

Depending on where in Colorado the group lands, athletes could be training at at least 5,200 feet of elevation. Altitude training is increasingly seen as essential for elite distance runners. Boulder, Colorado, which has long been a mecca for distance athletes, is already crowded with pros: On Athletics Club has a sizable pro group there, as does Team Boss, a group of elite distance runners anchored by steeplechaser Emma Coburn, who runs for New Balance. 

Coaching and athlete turnover is common after the Olympic Games. Most pro athletes have contracts that take them through the end of the Olympic year, and some have an option in their contracts that allows a sponsor to sign them for an additional year. 

Several high profile athletes have left the UAC in recent years. Jessica Hull returned to her native Australia and trains under her father; she won a silver medal in Paris. Donavan Brazier had great success under Julian in 2019, but LetsRun reported he left the UAC in 2024 after undergoing a fourth surgery on his left foot and lower leg. Fan favorite Craig Engels is now living in California and training under his college coach, Ryan Vanhoy. 

Julian’s wife, Colleen Glyde Julian, is a professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Colorado’s medical school in Aurora, Colorado. He has long commuted to Portland, Oregon, from Denver several times each week for athlete workouts in Beaverton. 

posted Saturday September 14th
by Runner’s World