Kiwi middle-distance prodigy Sam Ruthe has made history.
The 15-year-old is the youngest person to break the four-minute mile barrier, and the 49th New Zealander to do so.
His dad, Ben, is also an accomplished middle-distance runner and he joined Piney to discuss his son's journey
“I would have thought that this was not something that was possible for anybody on the planet.”
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk sed B to Sam.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ruth, this young, incredibly talented middle distance runner with huge potential,
youngest ever to go under the four minute mark for
the mile during the week we've just heard from Nick Willis.
Let's continue to chat about Sam and get pretty close
to him, bringing in Dad, proud Dad, no doubt, Ben Ruth, Ben.
Before we get onto Sam, nick Willis just said, then
(00:35):
he remembers you beating him in the battles you had
back at secondary school in Wellington. Do you have have
similar memories of running against Nick.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I had some fantastic battles with Nack. It was actually
probably one of my breakthrough races was breathing his older
brother Steve or Less, who was a sub form el himself,
in an eight hundred and Wellington, which was one of
the big big moments in my life. And I broke
a couple of New Zealan and under twenty records at
that time, and then Nick very shortly came hot on
my heels and I had a crack at the New
Zealan under twenty mile record one year at four three
are in a four oh four, and then the very
(01:05):
next game, Nick came around me in the last two
hundred to get to get that record I think as
a seventeen year old run four oh one. So yeah,
we've had a very long history and he was one
of the very first people I called once I realized
I had the challenges ahead of me that I've got.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, and he has mentioned that obviously as well. Has
he been a source of good advice for you?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Honestly, I cannot. I can't rate Nick highly enough. You know,
your interview with him, you can tell his wisdom, his
calm demeanor. He's really really thoughtful. We've been in Europe
together discussing the sport and how things can improve, and
he's just a really considered, well thought out individual who
I've got all the time in the world for. And
I asked him for some key advice and he gave
(01:52):
me about five key points and I've implemented all of
those things. I made some mistakes when I was running.
I didn't kick on the way that I should have.
I should have got my tonsils out sooner. There's just
a whole host of things that I could have done
and should have done. And I think Nick listening to
that of you. Maybe has I probably had a bit
of a reputation of overtraining and pushing too hard and
getting a bit over excited myself as an athlete. And
(02:14):
I think Nick has I could hear a slight concern,
but that's that sort of thing is what can hurt athletes.
But talking about the wider team, and I think he
said that he's the term the whole shebang, and that's
what we've really got. It's unbelievable support that Sam's got
around him, and such valuable contributions from people like that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Overtraining is a really interesting concept to me because I
get you know, you're here all the time, don't you
You have to work hard to get success, and it's
true you do. But the overtraining side of it, how
do you know when you are doing that? How do
you know when too much is too much?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know, I'm probably not the person to ask for
that because I've always done too much? What did the
experts say?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
What do the experts say about that?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
This is the wonderful thing. Right, Craig and I have
been great mates for many many years and raced together,
and I mean he's he's proven himself coaching Sam Tanner
from seventeen through to Olympic semifinals and Hayden Wild from
a young man that lived with him as like I
think a sixteen seventeen year old through to Olympic medals
and Craig like, our roles are very clear. I don't
(03:21):
need to see with his coaching because he's clearly incredible
and unbelievable at it, and that's his role. Jess's role
is making sure that Sam's got the stability home life,
good health, food, sleep, all those sorts of things and
the right things to prioritize for him. And my job
is to maybe take some of the burden off them
in terms of media, but create opportunities for him as well.
(03:42):
So it's a real team.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You must, though, have some views being a runner yourself, Ben,
do you ever, I don't know, scratch your head about
what Craig is asking if Sam or do you I
know you have full trust, But do you ever does
anything he ever you know gets Sam to do surprise you?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Honestly, Sam does so little training. He trains, He's got
Sam Tanner as a training partner, but he doesn't train.
He trains with Sam Tanna, but he doesn't train like
Sam Tanner. So Sam Tanner A ran that mile on
Saturday on Wednesday, sorry, and then he immediately carried on
to a session afterwards, so he carried on doing reps
after that session, and you wouldn't have seen Sam doing that.
(04:22):
So you know, even I'm sending out a track right
the second and they're doing reps and Sam Tanner's working
harder and longer. And Craig really doesn't put a lot
of emphasis on how hard he's training. It's more how
easily he's training and making sure it's with thin disibilities
and he does pulls those Zva's incredibly well.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You've been in an around track and field for most
of your adult life and probably even before that, Ben,
are you able to admire what Sam is doing from
a purely running sense or you know, because you must
be an extremely proud dad as well? Are you able
to be both admyra of is running but a proud
(05:01):
father as.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well from an athletic point of view. I really can't
wrap my head around it. I would have thought that
this was not something that was possible for anybody on
the planet, and I did unbiased, but it's shockingly, shockingly quick.
At shockingly young age. And I think that's one of
the one of the key challenges that we've got is,
(05:22):
you know, it's only running and Sam is you know,
we want them to be a good, humble person who
supports and helps others and as a kind as a
kind man. And one of the things that Sam's decided
today is he was trying to figure out how he
could help Craig and Sam Tanner for everything that they
do for him. And he's got his spikes that he
wore on the race that he broke the world record,
and he's putting them up on trade me. Actually he's
(05:45):
too young to put them up on trade me, so
I'll put them up on trade me. So they're just
up now if if anybody searches this Sam Sam Ruth spikes,
they're on trade me. And that money is just going
to get there to be donated to Craig and Sam
Tanner to help them however they want to choose to
use it, because they're the most generous, kindhearted people that
(06:08):
I know. And Nick Wollas was saying, how Sam Tanner is,
you know, a surfer and relaxed and to elder than
the group can be dangerous but Sam Tanner could not
be a more encouraging, dynamic, positive influence in my son's life.
And Jess and I are just incredibly grateful for.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That brilliant stuff. What there will be a few clicking
on to trade me to have a look at those
world record spikes, for sure, Ben, I've got a teenage
son and he leaves his stuff lying around everywhere. And
you know, I mean, Sam a typical teenage boy in
other ways, apart from his incredible athletic ability, I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
To go with no, he's just a lovely kiddy. He
ends his dissher and helps us with dinner and take
the rubbish out and moans the lawns, and yeah, he
takes himself off the bed and goes to bed early
because he knows that sleep really helps him. He's just like,
he's got a YouTube clip telling R and R is
their YouTube and Instagram channel, and they did a video
(07:12):
and you'll if somebody watches that, you'll see how relaxed
they are. What's his mates having been to before the race?
It's like just literally like they've just gone to the
track to have an ordinary Saturday afternoon session, and that's
really abnormal. I can't believe how he's coped. And that
was one of the things for us is how much
pressure you put on a child at a young age.
And I decided that we'd do this and we'd organize
(07:35):
the smeet and would promote it to give him the
opportunity of having all this pressure, but at a time
that he's surrounded by a lot of people that love
and care for him. He is surrounded by obviously his
family and all his mates, and in the race, some
incredible things happened that for Sam they were better than
what his performance was like. Hamish Murray ran a four
h five mile, which all of a sudden means that
(07:55):
he's going to get into the university he wants to
in America, and it was his last race of the
season to do that. So that's going to change Hamish's life.
And George Whiley ran a four h three mile, which
any other year for a seventeen year old is unbelievable,
and that's that's going to change what universities he gets into.
So they're just so proud of those guys who took
seconds off their time, and you know, it's about the
(08:15):
team and the squad and everybody around them a succeeding. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Well, it just seems as though even listening to you, Ben,
you know how how down to earth you are and
how you know I think you know the qualities obviously
that you're trying to instill in in Sam. I'm sure
qualities that you display on a daily basis as well,
and you've demonstrated that through through just chatting to us.
So do you do you do you plot a path forward?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Do you?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
And how far ahead do you do you plan for
for Sam's athletic career.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, so it's it's a quite an enjoyable process. Really.
I sit down with my aunt Craig and we talk
about we talk about, you know, what's ideal, and he's
he's a little bit run out. Other than his training mate,
he's run out of anybody that's faster than them. In
New Zealand, so you've got to travelers in New Zealand,
there's a ridiculously fast race in Australia. It's the fastest
race in Australia all year by a country mile, and
(09:09):
his ranked second to last and next next Saturday. So
that's a deep end for him. And then he's going
to La for the biggest high school race in America
on the twelfth of April. But then we've decided that
he's probably going to go to America in July, so
Craig decides this. Craig decides all of his training program.
Then I run it by Jess to make sure we
get the tick of approval from in terms of school
(09:29):
and leaving home and how we're going to manage it
from a home home life balance and Daisy, my daughter,
and how we're going to all do that, and whether
they travel, and we sort of all work together as
the teams come out with the plan that gives them
the opportunities and the exposure, but the support and also
maintainers every day. QUI schoolboy life.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
An exciting time for you and your family, for Sam,
for the athletics community here in New Zealand. We just
can't wait to see what the future holds for this
remarkable young man who, as I said, has obviously had
a terrific grounding from yourself and Jess and everybody else
wrapped around and being all the best. We can't wait
to see what happens next. Thanks for taking the time
(10:09):
for a chat today.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Thanks so much. Jason really appreciate the support, and yeah,
let's see where this seems up.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Let's see indeed, thanks Ben ben Ruth, father of Sam Ruth.
Ben himself a terrific middle distance runner, and well just
listening to him, you know, you can often, you know,
learn a lot about a child by talking to their parents,
can't you. And when you find somebody who's a bit
of a high achiever, it's fairly common that their parents
(10:35):
are well adjusted people and great supporters. And that's obviously
the case with Ben. So he mentioned there that Sam's
chucked his spikes on trade Me to raise a bit
of money for his coach and training partner for Craig
Kirkwood and Sam Ruth and the youth development group that
they run. I've just brought up the listing. Actually Sam
Ruth used spikes less than four minutes use it says
(10:59):
here the description one young owner a little water exposure,
but try now hopefully good for another decade or so
verified as being raced in for only three minutes fifty
eight point three five seconds, still have the stickers in
the heels, can vouch for the faint whiff of achievement.
I love it, I love it well. The reserves been met,
(11:21):
which is good news. If you search up Sam Ruth,
that's Ruth rug spikes, you can get to that listing,
and if you're perhaps interested in sporting memorabilia, maybe you
might want to place a bid on the spikes Sam
Ruth was wearing when he became the youngest ever subfour
minute miler.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk sed B to Sam.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ruth, this young, incredibly talented middle distance runner with huge potential,
youngest ever to go under the four minute mark for
the mile during the week we've just heard from Nick Willis.
Let's continue to chat about Sam and get pretty close
to him, bringing in Dad, proud Dad, no doubt, Ben Ruth, Ben.
Before we get onto Sam, nick Willis just said, then
(00:35):
he remembers you beating him in the battles you had
back at secondary school in Wellington. Do you have have
similar memories of running against Nick.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I had some fantastic battles with Nack. It was actually
probably one of my breakthrough races was breathing his older
brother Steve or Less, who was a sub form el himself,
in an eight hundred and Wellington, which was one of
the big big moments in my life. And I broke
a couple of New Zealan and under twenty records at
that time, and then Nick very shortly came hot on
my heels and I had a crack at the New
Zealan under twenty mile record one year at four three
are in a four oh four, and then the very
(01:05):
next game, Nick came around me in the last two
hundred to get to get that record I think as
a seventeen year old run four oh one. So yeah,
we've had a very long history and he was one
of the very first people I called once I realized
I had the challenges ahead of me that I've got.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, and he has mentioned that obviously as well. Has
he been a source of good advice for you?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Honestly, I cannot. I can't rate Nick highly enough. You know,
your interview with him, you can tell his wisdom, his
calm demeanor. He's really really thoughtful. We've been in Europe
together discussing the sport and how things can improve, and
he's just a really considered, well thought out individual who
I've got all the time in the world for. And
I asked him for some key advice and he gave
(01:52):
me about five key points and I've implemented all of
those things. I made some mistakes when I was running.
I didn't kick on the way that I should have.
I should have got my tonsils out sooner. There's just
a whole host of things that I could have done
and should have done. And I think Nick listening to
that of you. Maybe has I probably had a bit
of a reputation of overtraining and pushing too hard and
getting a bit over excited myself as an athlete. And
(02:14):
I think Nick has I could hear a slight concern,
but that's that sort of thing is what can hurt athletes.
But talking about the wider team, and I think he
said that he's the term the whole shebang, and that's
what we've really got. It's unbelievable support that Sam's got
around him, and such valuable contributions from people like that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Overtraining is a really interesting concept to me because I
get you know, you're here all the time, don't you
You have to work hard to get success, and it's
true you do. But the overtraining side of it, how
do you know when you are doing that? How do
you know when too much is too much?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know, I'm probably not the person to ask for
that because I've always done too much? What did the
experts say?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
What do the experts say about that?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
This is the wonderful thing. Right, Craig and I have
been great mates for many many years and raced together,
and I mean he's he's proven himself coaching Sam Tanner
from seventeen through to Olympic semifinals and Hayden Wild from
a young man that lived with him as like I
think a sixteen seventeen year old through to Olympic medals
and Craig like, our roles are very clear. I don't
(03:21):
need to see with his coaching because he's clearly incredible
and unbelievable at it, and that's his role. Jess's role
is making sure that Sam's got the stability home life,
good health, food, sleep, all those sorts of things and
the right things to prioritize for him. And my job
is to maybe take some of the burden off them
in terms of media, but create opportunities for him as well.
(03:42):
So it's a real team.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You must, though, have some views being a runner yourself, Ben,
do you ever, I don't know, scratch your head about
what Craig is asking if Sam or do you I
know you have full trust, But do you ever does
anything he ever you know gets Sam to do surprise you?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Honestly, Sam does so little training. He trains, He's got
Sam Tanner as a training partner, but he doesn't train.
He trains with Sam Tanna, but he doesn't train like
Sam Tanner. So Sam Tanner A ran that mile on
Saturday on Wednesday, sorry, and then he immediately carried on
to a session afterwards, so he carried on doing reps
after that session, and you wouldn't have seen Sam doing that.
(04:22):
So you know, even I'm sending out a track right
the second and they're doing reps and Sam Tanner's working
harder and longer. And Craig really doesn't put a lot
of emphasis on how hard he's training. It's more how
easily he's training and making sure it's with thin disibilities
and he does pulls those Zva's incredibly well.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You've been in an around track and field for most
of your adult life and probably even before that, Ben,
are you able to admire what Sam is doing from
a purely running sense or you know, because you must
be an extremely proud dad as well? Are you able
to be both admyra of is running but a proud
(05:01):
father as.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well from an athletic point of view. I really can't
wrap my head around it. I would have thought that
this was not something that was possible for anybody on
the planet, and I did unbiased, but it's shockingly, shockingly quick.
At shockingly young age. And I think that's one of
the one of the key challenges that we've got is,
(05:22):
you know, it's only running and Sam is you know,
we want them to be a good, humble person who
supports and helps others and as a kind as a
kind man. And one of the things that Sam's decided
today is he was trying to figure out how he
could help Craig and Sam Tanner for everything that they
do for him. And he's got his spikes that he
wore on the race that he broke the world record,
and he's putting them up on trade me. Actually he's
(05:45):
too young to put them up on trade me, so
I'll put them up on trade me. So they're just
up now if if anybody searches this Sam Sam Ruth spikes,
they're on trade me. And that money is just going
to get there to be donated to Craig and Sam
Tanner to help them however they want to choose to
use it, because they're the most generous, kindhearted people that
(06:08):
I know. And Nick Wollas was saying, how Sam Tanner is,
you know, a surfer and relaxed and to elder than
the group can be dangerous but Sam Tanner could not
be a more encouraging, dynamic, positive influence in my son's life.
And Jess and I are just incredibly grateful for.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That brilliant stuff. What there will be a few clicking
on to trade me to have a look at those
world record spikes, for sure, Ben, I've got a teenage
son and he leaves his stuff lying around everywhere. And
you know, I mean, Sam a typical teenage boy in
other ways, apart from his incredible athletic ability, I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
To go with no, he's just a lovely kiddy. He
ends his dissher and helps us with dinner and take
the rubbish out and moans the lawns, and yeah, he
takes himself off the bed and goes to bed early
because he knows that sleep really helps him. He's just like,
he's got a YouTube clip telling R and R is
their YouTube and Instagram channel, and they did a video
(07:12):
and you'll if somebody watches that, you'll see how relaxed
they are. What's his mates having been to before the race?
It's like just literally like they've just gone to the
track to have an ordinary Saturday afternoon session, and that's
really abnormal. I can't believe how he's coped. And that
was one of the things for us is how much
pressure you put on a child at a young age.
And I decided that we'd do this and we'd organize
(07:35):
the smeet and would promote it to give him the
opportunity of having all this pressure, but at a time
that he's surrounded by a lot of people that love
and care for him. He is surrounded by obviously his
family and all his mates, and in the race, some
incredible things happened that for Sam they were better than
what his performance was like. Hamish Murray ran a four
h five mile, which all of a sudden means that
(07:55):
he's going to get into the university he wants to
in America, and it was his last race of the
season to do that. So that's going to change Hamish's life.
And George Whiley ran a four h three mile, which
any other year for a seventeen year old is unbelievable,
and that's that's going to change what universities he gets into.
So they're just so proud of those guys who took
seconds off their time, and you know, it's about the
(08:15):
team and the squad and everybody around them a succeeding. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Well, it just seems as though even listening to you, Ben,
you know how how down to earth you are and
how you know I think you know the qualities obviously
that you're trying to instill in in Sam. I'm sure
qualities that you display on a daily basis as well,
and you've demonstrated that through through just chatting to us.
So do you do you do you plot a path forward?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Do you?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
And how far ahead do you do you plan for
for Sam's athletic career.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, so it's it's a quite an enjoyable process. Really.
I sit down with my aunt Craig and we talk
about we talk about, you know, what's ideal, and he's
he's a little bit run out. Other than his training mate,
he's run out of anybody that's faster than them. In
New Zealand, so you've got to travelers in New Zealand,
there's a ridiculously fast race in Australia. It's the fastest
race in Australia all year by a country mile, and
(09:09):
his ranked second to last and next next Saturday. So
that's a deep end for him. And then he's going
to La for the biggest high school race in America
on the twelfth of April. But then we've decided that
he's probably going to go to America in July, so
Craig decides this. Craig decides all of his training program.
Then I run it by Jess to make sure we
get the tick of approval from in terms of school
(09:29):
and leaving home and how we're going to manage it
from a home home life balance and Daisy, my daughter,
and how we're going to all do that, and whether
they travel, and we sort of all work together as
the teams come out with the plan that gives them
the opportunities and the exposure, but the support and also
maintainers every day. QUI schoolboy life.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
An exciting time for you and your family, for Sam,
for the athletics community here in New Zealand. We just
can't wait to see what the future holds for this
remarkable young man who, as I said, has obviously had
a terrific grounding from yourself and Jess and everybody else
wrapped around and being all the best. We can't wait
to see what happens next. Thanks for taking the time
(10:09):
for a chat today.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Thanks so much. Jason really appreciate the support, and yeah,
let's see where this seems up.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Let's see indeed, thanks Ben ben Ruth, father of Sam Ruth.
Ben himself a terrific middle distance runner, and well just
listening to him, you know, you can often, you know,
learn a lot about a child by talking to their parents,
can't you. And when you find somebody who's a bit
of a high achiever, it's fairly common that their parents
(10:35):
are well adjusted people and great supporters. And that's obviously
the case with Ben. So he mentioned there that Sam's
chucked his spikes on trade Me to raise a bit
of money for his coach and training partner for Craig
Kirkwood and Sam Ruth and the youth development group that
they run. I've just brought up the listing. Actually Sam
Ruth used spikes less than four minutes use it says
(10:59):
here the description one young owner a little water exposure,
but try now hopefully good for another decade or so
verified as being raced in for only three minutes fifty
eight point three five seconds, still have the stickers in
the heels, can vouch for the faint whiff of achievement.
I love it, I love it well. The reserves been met,
(11:21):
which is good news. If you search up Sam Ruth,
that's Ruth rug spikes, you can get to that listing,
and if you're perhaps interested in sporting memorabilia, maybe you
might want to place a bid on the spikes Sam
Ruth was wearing when he became the youngest ever subfour
minute miler.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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