Sam Ruthe: Kiwi runner on becoming the youngest to break the four-minute mile

New Zealand’s middle-distance prodigy Sam Ruthe has become the youngest person in history to break the four-minute mile barrier. 

The 15-year-old from Tauranga became the 49th New Zealander to break the four-minute mile doing so at a wet Go Media Stadium last night. 

Olympian Sam Tanner helped lead Ruthe in the second half of the race, setting the pace for the teenager towards the finish line. 

Ruthe eventually finished second behind Tanner in three minutes 58.35 seconds. 

He's eclipsed the previous pioneer, then 16-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has gone on to become a double Olympic champion. 

Ruthe told Ryan Bridge that it felt amazing having all his friends and family there supporting him. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you haven't heard the name Sam Ruth, you have now.
The fifteen year old running sensation from Todong has just
become the youngest person in the world to run a
sub four minute mile. It all went down last night
in the rain on Mount Smart Stadium's number two ground,
sneaking in with a time of three point fifty eight
thirty five. Have a listen. Here, come Sam Ruth onto

(00:21):
the shoulder. Now it's a fifteen year old. Can he
be the youngest in the world to set this magic mark?
The crowd rules them down the home straight, Eric Comediam
out Smart Stadium. Sam Tanna's smiling. Sam roads right now.
He did it and he's with us. Now, Sam, how

(00:42):
are you?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Hey, Brian, I'm actually really good, really happy at the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Why is that wouldn't have anything to do with the
race yesterday?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, yes, sir from there.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Tell me how you're feeling and what did to celebrate
last night?

Speaker 2 (01:04):
I felt amazing when I crossed the line to have
all my mates, then all my family supporting me, and
then it's pretty late, so our celebration was just a
drive through burg King?

Speaker 1 (01:18):
How good was How good was that? Burger King?

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Ah? So good? Like Bitsburger, King of my life.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
I'd say so three minutes fifty eight seconds, thirty five split.
Fantastic result. But it was raining. Tell us about the conditions,
how hard it was to actually get this done.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Ah Well, a couple of hours before the race was
hammering down and I was getting a bit scared. I
was like, oh, hopefully it eases up a bit before
the race because I'm like staying on the top of
a hotel right now too. So it was real windy
where I was, and I was like, oh no, this
isn't going to be good. And then about fifteen minutes
before the race, like all the rain cleared, like the

(01:58):
clouds went away, and then I wasn't windy at all,
so really cleared up.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
So is the wind the bigger problem than the rain?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, wind is definitely a bigger problem than the rain,
because rain doesn't really fit you, but one definitely slows
you down a bit.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
You had your pacer there, Sam Tanner, who's the Olympian
who everybody knows and loves. He's your training buddy, But
you're giving him a bit of a run for his money, now,
aren't you.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
He's got me in any race to be fear. He
was just he was just cruising that race. He could
have done much harder, Like straight after the race finished,
he just started doing a session. Lovely to have such
a good training partner though, like best best miler in
New Zealand, pacing me couldn't couldn't be much better.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
What's happening was school today? Sam?

Speaker 2 (02:47):
I'm actually not going to school today. I'll go to
school tomorrow. I go to drive back to town today.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
So you stayed in Auckland last night, but you're driving
back to Tagan today. I think you can have the
day off school, Sam, tell me about your Tell me
about your dream. What's your dream?

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I don't really think too far into the future, so
my dreams always just just relatively sure into the future.
But at the moment, it's probably the one Arcadia. So
that's on the twelfth Debight Pril and that's that's a
big race in America, so I love to win that.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Do you feel like there's enough of a community. I mean,
you mentioned Sam, but is there enough of a community?
Is there enough support for you to go all the
way with us?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah? Yeah, totally, so much support, Like am I community
in my community, in my training group, Sampan and Hate
and Wilt have both done it, so they've really just
guided the pathway for me. Well, I got to do
the work.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Well, keep doing the business, Sam, Sam Ruth keep runner
here has just set a record, Well he's created a
new one. I suppose sneaking in with a time of
three minutes, fifty eight and thirty five. For more from
The Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to Newstalk SETB from
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