Sam Ruthe spends his days thinking about how he can run to a finish line faster than he has ever done. He currently averages 25km/h over a mile. That’s faster than many elite runners do over 800m.
He may now compete in the mile at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games
in July after clocking an astonishing 3 min 48.88 sec in Boston on January 31, breaking John Walker’s 1982 national record by 0.20 sec.
He broke the under-18 world record for the mile and his time over 1500m during the race was also faster than the under-18 world mark. Even if he qualifies in other events, the mile will be his sole Glasgow focus, if selected.
This kid is 16, a Year 12 student at Tauranga Boys’ College. And only 10 people globally have clocked faster than him indoors over a mile.
His talent may have catapulted him into the global elite after his first-ever indoor competition, but his parents understand the sport and keep him grounded. He says he benefits from both of them having been top athletes themselves. “I’m really lucky. I think the main thing is they really don’t put any pressure on me or get carried away. I don’t have to worry if I have a good or bad race, they are there for me no matter what. They just really help me by clearing a path, keeping things simple. Just knowing that I have their support means so much.”
Ruthe also holds world age records in 1000m and 3000m, and under-20 national records in all events from 800m to 5000m, bar the 3000m where he holds the under-19 record. Only three Kiwis have ever clocked quicker than him in the 1500m, six in the 800m.
Sam (centre) after setting the under-20 record in 1000m in Tauranga. Photo / Supplied
His mind-blowing mile effort may change his entire year. Initially, the focus was to compete in four events at this year’s under-20 world championships in Oregon. But competing in a strong Commonwealth Games field this year is no longer a long shot for Ruthe, it’s a priority. His father Ben says, “I think [Boston] has changed everything. “What this means is that we are going all in on the Commonwealth Games.”
The moment of Ruthe: watch when he broke the NZ record for the mile in Boston. “I didn’t feel like I was running that fast to be honest.”
Ruthe will be entered in both competitions and could compete in Oregon even if he makes a Glasgow final. However, timing will be tight as the under-20 championships are just days after the final, and geographically they are 7400km apart.
Ruthe also qualified for next month’s world indoor championships in Poland, going 0.04 sec under the 800m standard at last month’s Potts Classic, faster than his training partner, Olympian Sam Tanner, 25.
“Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve actually beaten him in the 800m,” Ruthe says. “It was a bit tricky, he ran the fastest time of his life, too, that day. I think he was a bit shocked, but he got over it pretty quickly.”
“I guess it really snuck up on me, to be honest,” says Tanner. “I thought I could probably get him until he’s about 18 or 19; two or three more years of getting him with ease – but nah, not any more.”
Ruthe won’t be going to Poland next month – school is the priority. He says Tauranga Boys’ has been in regular contact and provided him with homework this month while competing in the US.
“I’m really lucky. The headmaster has contacted me to make sure they are doing all they can, which is really good of them.”
Nan shows the way
The mile has not been contested at a pinnacle event since 1966. It was replaced by the 1500m at the 1970 Commonwealth Games as a step towards metrification. That year, Ruthe’s maternal grandmother, Rosemary Wright (née Stirling), became Scotland’s first woman to win a Commonwealth track gold when she won the 800m in Edinburgh.
She went on to set an 800m Commonwealth record at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which stood as a Scottish record for 30 years. Born in Tauranga to a Scottish father, she was unable to compete for New Zealand, as she couldn’t make it back from Europe for the selection event.
Last year, just three Commonwealth athletes ran quicker in the mile than Ruthe recently did, so this prodigy could make a final at Glasgow.
“Nan would have loved to have run for New Zealand, so I think to go there and get to run for New Zealand will be special for me and for her,” Ruthe says. “This is the first time in decades that they have a mile instead of a 1500m, which is great, as I get to race the distance of my best time.” (The mile race is 1609m, or four laps plus 9m of an athletics outdoor track. The 1500m race is 3.75 laps.)
Rosemary Stirling, far left, wins the 800m race at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Photo / NZME
The event change was initiated by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe as a tribute to an iconic race at the 1954 Vancouver Games when two athletes, including British athlete Roger Bannister, went under four minutes in the mile, just weeks after Bannister became the first to run that quickly.
Last year, Ruthe drew global attention when he became the world’s youngest person to run a mile in under four minutes, doing so before he was even halfway through secondary school. At 3 minutes 58.35 seconds, he smashed the barrier, breaking his own world record for a 15-year-old by 3.5 seconds, set two months earlier.
“This was probably my favourite goal. Definitely enjoyed this one the most with all the people here supporting me,” he said after the race in Auckland.
Another moment of Ruthe: When, at age 15 he became the youngest person to run a sub-four minute mile.
On YouTube athletics channel The Distance Network, founder Callum Elson noted, “What Ruthe displayed wasn’t just raw speed. It was durability, strength, recovery ability, and mental focus far beyond his age.
“This is why people are calling him a generational talent.”
That four-minute mile led to a name, image and likeness deal with Nike, providing products and rewards for using Nike’s brand. Ruthe was just days short of his 16th birthday when he signed with Nike. His mile effort is up for a Halberg Award as New Zealand’s favourite sporting moment. He is also a hot favourite to win the emerging sportsperson award and will find out on February 16 if he has.
Less than a year after breaking that mile mark, his 10-second improvement is unprecedented at such a high level, surprising his coach Craig Kirkwood and his parents, given he runs only 70km a week.
“It’s crazy. It’s completely crazy,” Ben Ruthe says. “I think the thing people really wouldn’t understand is that he probably does less training than anyone who has broken four minutes in the mile ever. The average person would train for about 10 years before they break the mile. We’re up against guys who are running 130k a week.”
Ruthe’s parents know there’s little point in driving a 16-year-old to run 130km a week.
It’s not just his nan who has competed internationally. His mother Jessica (née Wright) was a multiple New Zealand champion across distances from 1500m to 10,000m. She won the 2009 Auckland Marathon and represented New Zealand four times at the cross-country world championships. Her sister Emma was a secondary schools national 800m bronze medallist. Jess Ruthe provides a healthy lifestyle balance, overseeing her son’s wellbeing, and coaching when Kirkwood is away.
Ben, Jessica, Sam and Daisy in earlier years; Right, Sam Ruthe with sister Daisy, Nan Rosemary and Poppa Trevor Wright. Photo / Supplied
Family video of Sam leading the field on a primary school cross coutry race at age 7.
Ben Ruthe, an under-20 national record-holder over 800m and 1000m, also won the Auckland Marathon in 2008. He has represented New Zealand in cross country and in 2006 was 0.17 seconds off breaking four minutes in the mile on the same day his brother-in-law Gareth Hyett did.
Ben now oversees management, travel arrangements and sponsorship for his son. He has been close friends with Kirkwood for nearly 30 years. They used to compete together and now work together to organise the best possible events for their protégé.
“I’ll give him a whole bunch of options, and he’ll chose which ones are the right ones in terms of the programme and the structure,’’ Ben says. “All three of us [Kirkwood and Sam’s parents] look after the different elements of wellbeing in our sectors. Life is not all running.”
Kirkwood has also competed at the top level. He competed at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games in the marathon, and at world championships in mountain running, cross country, half marathon and iron man.
It’s in the genes
Nan Rosemary and Poppa Trevor Wright met at the European champs in Helsinki in 1971, where they claimed medals. As well as winning Commonwealth Games gold, Rosemary Stirling won gold at the 1969 European championships in world record time as part of the 4 x 400m relay for Britain and won 800m bronze medals at the indoor European champs in 1971 and also at Helsinki. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow in 2014. After moving back to New Zealand in 1982, she managed cross-country teams.
Wright won a silver medal in the marathon for Britain at Helsinki. Born in England, he competed in the marathon at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He also won international world cross-country medals and in 1983 represented New Zealand in the marathon at the inaugural world championships at Helsinki.
“I didn’t even know my nan and poppa were runners until I was about 10 or 11,” Ruthe says. “Mum and Dad don’t have medals or running photos in the house, either.”
Ruthe, in March 2025, becoming the world’s youngest person to run a mile in under four minutes. To his left is rival and close mate Sam Tanner; Right, his epic run in Boston on January 31. Photos Getty Images; John Hemdengren
Although it is no surprise that Ruthe is breaking national age records – he has 34 – what is unusual is that he’s ranked so highly globally for the mile, with a national open record.
He is the youngest to win a senior national title, winning both the 1500m and 3000m, the former as a dead heat with Tanner, the national indoor 1500m record holder.
Ruthe was intentionally held back from seriously pursuing athletics until he turned 13. He was swimming competitively, instead, as was his sister Daisy, for their local Tauranga swimming club, run by 2002 Commonwealth Games swimming silver medallist Liz Van Welie.
Tanner recalls when Ruthe switched to athletics and joined Kirkwood’s squad aged 14. “He was a really talented junior with quite a big gap between us. I go to Europe for six months; he trains throughout the New Zealand winter, and I come back and all of a sudden he’s doing workouts at the same level that I am.”
While close mates, Tanner and Ruthe are fierce rivals. “Having him turn up wanting to beat me, and getting closer has reignited my competitive edge – and now we can both benefit off each other; it’s been great.”
Daisy, now 14, broke an under-16 1500m record at the 2025 NZ Secondary School championships in her first year of track competition. She also became the fastest Kiwi female under 16 in the 1000m, this year’s fourth fastest under 18 in the 800m, and placed fifth in the open women’s mile.
“If I can race faster people, whether they are older or not, is good. I just love running,” she says. ‘’I’m lucky I have a really good team to train with, and I just want to run faster times.”
So perhaps Daisy will join her brother at a future Games event.
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