15 yr old track athlete Sam Ruthe becomes the youngest person ever to break the magic 4 minute mile barrier as pace setter Sam Tanner looks on. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Tauranga teenager Sam Ruthe has become the youngest runner to break four minutes for the mile, with a 3m 58.35s performance at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium.
Paced throughout by training partner and two-time Olympian Sam Tanner, Ruthe became the first 15-year-old to duck under the mythical benchmark for middle-distance running, despite wet and cold conditions.
Just 24 days short of his 16th birthday, he beat his own previous age best of 4m 01.72s, set at Whanganui in January. Ruthe subsequently became the youngest man to claim an NZ senior title, when he captured the 3000m crown at Napier, and then added a second, when he deadheated with Tanner over 1500m at Dunedin last week.
Tanner won the race in 3m 58.29s, shouting encouragement to his young rival down the homestraight, while Feilding's Ben Wall also broke four minutes for the first time with 3m 59.00s in third.
The field passed through the first three laps on four-minute pace, but needed to run under 60 seconds for the final 400 metres to realise the dream. Several times over the final two laps, Ruthe came to Tanner's shoulder and threatened to pass.
15 yr old track athlete Sam Ruthe becomes the youngest person ever to break the magic 4 minute mile barrier. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
"Definitely around that 200, I don't know how he thought I was feeling, but I was feeling pretty good, so I came around a bit, and he saw me and sped up a bit," chuckled Ruthe.
"Before that last lap, I was actually thinking quite a bit, which I don't usually do. I was feeling quite good, but my legs started to tie up a bit, so it was going to be interesting, but I managed to hold on. It felt perfect.
"He was going to take me the whole way and pace me perfectly, which he did. I couldn't have asked for better pacing."
15 yr old track athlete Sam Ruthe becomes the youngest person ever to break the magic 4 minute mile barrier. Wednesday night at Mt Smart Stadium 19 March 2025. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Last month, Ruthe recorded 3m 41.25s over 1500 metres, which indicated he was capable of capable of cracking four minutes for the extra 110 metres.
Next week, Ruthe and Tanner, who are both coached by former marathon runner Craig Kirkwood, cross the Tasman for the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where they face a high-class field over 1500m.
"Definitely my biggest race yet," Ruthe said. "There will be some real good competition over there, so it will be interesting to see how I go in a good field.
"They're all faster than me, so I'll probably just hang on the back and see how I feel through the race."
The record was previously held by Norway's Jackob Ingebrigtsen, having run 3 minutes 58 points 07 seconds in 2017 when he 16 years and 250 days old.
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