Meet the World U18 record holder at the Mile and 1,500 meters, Sam Ruthe!
Sam Ruthe has only been running for three years!
At sixteen, Sam Ruthe captured the mindshare of the running world on 31 January 2026, when he ran 3:48.88 for the mile, wining the race that BU John Thomas Terrier Classic!
At sixteen years, 294 days old, Sam Ruthe became the youngest person ever to run a mile under 3:50. Sam also broke the World Under-18 record, the New Zealand Indoor record (breaking NR indoor set by Nick Willis of 3:51.06), and the overall NZ Mile record, breaking the forty-three year old overall NZ mile record of 3:49.08 set by Sir John Walker, the first man under 3:50 (1975), which dated from 1982!
Not only did Sam set the World U18 record for his 3:49.88 mile, but also the World U18 record for his intermediate time at 1,500m of 3:33.25!
Sam Ruthe has become a global phenomenon. This morning, Madrid time, I sent 30 questions to the NIKE sports marketing team, hoping against hope, we could get some answers! Within six hours, Ben Ruthe, Sam’s father, sent the quesitons back, all answered. Special thanks to Sam Ruthe, his father, Ben and the team at NIKE sports marketing, Sam Ruthe’s sponsor!
- What do you remember about your first race? My first proper race was the North Island under 14 800m champs. I just remember going out quickly and Vaughan Murray who is now one of my good mates and training partners flying past me in the last 150m. I remember feeling like I caught a fridge in that race and could do nothing as he flew home.,
- How old were you when you started running? I only started training at the start of 2023 so 3 years ago, not long before I turned 14.
- Was your family into running? I never really knew that they were really into running. Mum and Dad would head out for runs from home but I didn’t know they were national champs or that my Nan won Commonwealth Games and my Pop won a European Silver in the marathon until I was maybe 11 years old.
- What was the first mile race you ran? My first mile race was in Auckland in November 2024. It was the John Walker Mile and I was 15 at the time.
- What was your time in that race? I ran 4:10 that day.
- Who is your coach? Craig Kirkwood. He has always been great friends with my parents and coaches my training partner , 2 x 1500m Olympian Sam Tanner. He also coached Hayden Wilde to 2 Olympic triathlon medals. He coached all of us from our teens.
- Do you train with a group? I see that you train with Sam Tanner? Yes, we have a great group. There are about 30 of us. There are quite a few others that come and join us too. We had a couple come to NZ to train with us from the NCAA when they were on their Christmas break too which was great.
- Was there a race that told you you could be good at running? The first time I thought I could be quite good was when I ran 8:09 for 3000m when I was 15. I felt good and had a good first lap and a few months later I won the NZ Open mens champs in 7:56.
- How is running organized in New Zealand? Schools? Clubs? Everyone mainly runs for their school. There are national schools’ track champs and cross country champs. We have quite a small population so everyone knows everyone. We made some calls to get the officials and volunteers to qualify for the sub 4 and we are so lucky we have so many good people that came and helped to make that happen.
- What was the reception when you broke 4 minutes for the first time? It was a lot bigger than I expected. I realise how lucky I am now that I got to do that. The bad weather came right just in time and Sam Tanner paced me perfectly. It wouldn’t have happened without all the people that volunteered to help.
- Sam Tanner with junior phenom Sam Ruthe, photo by Athletics New Zealand
- Have you met Sir John Walker? What was that like? I haven’t met Sir John Walker but he gave me a message which was really encouraging. Im really just now discovering how great he was and learning about the history of our country in the mile and 1500m. Sir John Walker was incredible to be the first person to break 3:50 in the world.
- What was meeting Rod Dixon like? Rod is such a nice person. He is so enthusiastic about helping the sport and had a lot of advice about training and racing. He had a long career and really focusses on one step at a time which is something that resonates with me.
- What is your favorite distance to race? My favourite distance is the 1500m, The back straight gives you time to settle in. It’s a bit faster than the mile but without the chaos on the first bend.
- Do you race cross-country in the New Zealand season? We race Cross country and I really enjoy it. It’s a real challenge though as that is when the Northern hemisphere summer is. Last year I raced cross country off some track work then flew to Prefontaine and raced a mile off winter work which is a tough season opener. I plan to take more time preparing for Northern Hemisphere summers in the future but for now Im trying to balance that with School with the most important part of the year at the same time.
- What was it like racing at Boston University? I can see why it is fast. The laps fly by and the track feels so good. It might also have something to do with there being so much snow outside and it just felt so good to run fast in the warm. It’s like nothing we have in New Zealand as we are over 9000km to our closest indoor track.
- Were you surprised by the 3:48? I knew Sam Tanner had run 3:49 and he was in 3:48 type shape and Sam and I were really close in all of our sessions. He ran his fastest NZ mile ever the week before so he knew he was in good shape and I thought I could maybe run that time if everything went really well. I really wasn’t sure how the travel had gone so I was lucky it all went to plan.
Sam Ruthe is World Athletics Athlete of the Month for his 3:48.88 mile, art by World Athletics - What should fans know about you that they do not? I quite enjoy a good donut, my favourites in North Carolina are Krispy Kremes.
- What is your NIKE training shoe for hard days? For easy days? Because of all the snow I have had to do a lot more running on roads than I would like but luckily I brought my Vomero Plus which are perfect for roads and slower days. My favourite for track sessions is the Nike Dragonfly Elite 2, they are just really responsive and it has a real feeling of floating when you hit a good pace in them.
- Do you have a favorite music group or performer that you listen to? Burna Boy
- Do you have a program on Netflix you binge on during travel? I quite like watching True Crime Series which Im getting through a bit of at the moment.
- Will you race the World Juniors? Yes, we have decided that on the way back from Europe in August we will go via Eugine and race world Juniors. I hopefully am selected for the Commonwealth Games in Scotland and there is only a few days between that final if I’m luckl enough to make it and the world under 20 heats so it’s a tight turn around but it would be an honour to race at such a big global event. I have one more go in 2 years when I still qualify as under 20 so it will be a good experience to race.
- Are you considering the World Indoors? No, its too much time away from school to go to Poland and I will be taking a couple of weeks off before going back to working on my base which is the plan Craig has put together for me.
- Do you have an athlete you admire? I cant go past Sam Tanner really. He is just so positive, he really enjoys all of the training and has been so good helping me out right from the start. He is a great guy to travel and train with too. He has all the tips.
- If you were not a middle distance runner, what field event to you do? I would be a shot putter but I think I’d have to pack on a few Kilos first.
- Are you highly competitive? I don’t know if you call it that, I get on well with the guys I race but I race to win when I line up. I think you can respect your competition but I think to race well you have to believe you can beat the other guys you share that start line with.
- What is your training like? I train like most 16 year olds would. I do about 55 miles or 90 km on my biggest week and average about 75km a week or 45 miles. I do a couple of track sessions a week in summer. We pretty much never go 100% in training. I do a lot less volume than Sam Tanner who does about 40km or 25 miles more than me each week. I don’t do weights yet but I do core and conditioning work.
- Is there a session you do that you absolutely do not like, but it gives you a good idea of fitness?No, I really enjoy all of the sessions.
- Do you get nervous before races? I get a bit excited before races which is similar to being nervous but positive I guess. I think some nervous excitement is good but I know that I will give it my all so there is nothing to lose.
- What NIKE spike do you prefer for racing? I raced my 3:48 in Victory 2 but normally I only use those for shorter races of 800m or 1000m but it worked pretty well for the mile. I definitely prefer the Dragonfly Elite 2 for longer races like the 3000m I am doing at BU on the 22nd.
- Is there a quote or a song lyric that plays in your head? When I race I have a sensation that my mind goes blank actually. It feels like my body makes the decisions. I realise that doesn’t make a lot of sense but that is the feeling I get and often think back and cant ever recall thinking anything in particular let alone song lyrics.
- Here’s the clip, courtesy of our friends at FloTrack of Sam Ruthe’s amazing World Under 18 best for the 1,500m and Mile!
Taking you around BU for two magic laps 🪄🤯
You just witnessed history as Sam Ruthe, at just 16-years-old, runs a 3:48.88 mile at the BU Terrier Classic.#BUTerrierClassic and #CollegeTF
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) January 31, 2026
