Sam Ruthe, a 15-year-old from Tauranga has become the youngest to break the four-minute mile after a 3-minute 58-second performance at Mt Smart Stadium.
Alongside his training partner, two-time Olympian Sam Tanner, Ruthe completed the mythical benchmark despite having to run through cold and wet conditions.
15-year-old Ruthe managed to beat his previous best of 4 minutes 0.1 seconds which he set previously in Whanganui back in January.
He also became the youngest person to win a senior title when he won the 3000m in Napier.
Sam’s father Ben told the media earlier today that the usually shy Sam’s momentous achievement is still sinking in for him.
“It’s a little bit surreal, but he actually seemed to have handled it pretty well and just I’m just proud of him for the way that he handles the amount of pressure…he’s always been quite a shy kid,” he said.
“For him to be thrust in front of the camera and perform, reasonably well, is really pleasing to see as a parent,” he added.
Sam’s father Ben also heaped big praise on his son’s training partner Sam Tanner and thanked him for setting the pace and doing so to break his own record.
“Sam Tanner’s just an incredible human being, really. He’s an Olympics semi-finalist, and Olympics semi-finalists don’t pace people, they’re the ones that get paced. And for him to donate his time and his effort and his goodwill, and he’s just such a great mentor to Sam.”
Ruthe will return to school next week, supposedly as a bit of a celebrity but will have his sights set in his next race on Melbourne next weekend.
Photo Credit: Photosport
