Running sensation Sam Ruthe has become the fastest 16-year-old to ever run the mile, achieving the feat at the Cooks Classic in Whanganui on Saturday night.
The Tauranga teenager clocked 3m 53.83s to go under the former world record mark held by Australian Cam Myers.
Ruthe was narrowly beaten to the finish line by two-time Olympian and training partner Sam Tanner, who helped push the youngster on, as he has done in other races on the domestic scene.
“It feels incredible. That was my goal coming into this race. I was trying to beat Tanner as well, but as soon as the gun started, I just wanted to run as fast as possible,” Ruthe told TVNZ.
“To lead out some of this race was something I felt I just had to do. I’ll hopefully get my time down faster.”
Tanner, 25, defended his national men’s senior mile title, surging past Ruthe in the home straight to win in 3m 53.36s.
It came a week after Ruthe pipped Tanner in an exciting 800m race at the Potts Classic in Hastings.
Last year the pair finished in a dead heat in the final of the men’s 1500m at the national championships.
Both will leave for the United States next week, with Ruthe eyeing four indoor mile races on successive weekends, in a campaign he believes will be important for his development.
Ruthe is now seventh on the list of all-time New Zealand milers, having overtaken the legendary Sir Peter Snell.
In other notable results, sprinters Tiaan Whelpton and Zoe Hobbs won the respective men’s and women’s 100m titles in sharp – though wind-assisted – times.
Ireland’s Laura Nicholson ran a smart time of 4m 43.75s to win the women’s mile.
