Tauranga’s 15-year-old Sam Ruthe has made history as the youngest runner to break the four-minute mile, clocking 3m 58.35s at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
Paced by two-time Olympian Sam Tanner, Ruthe defied wet and cold conditions to surpass his own previous age-best mark of 4m 01.72s.
The teenager, just weeks shy of his 16th birthday, has had a remarkable season, also becoming the youngest to claim an NZ senior title in the 3000m and sharing the 1500m title with Tanner.
Ruthe, who trains under coach Craig Kirkwood, will now compete in the prestigious Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, testing himself against elite middle-distance runners.
His achievement breaks the previous record set by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 3m 58.07s at 16 years and 250 days old.
