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Sixteen-year-old Sam Ruthe of New Zealand ran the John Thomas Terrier Indoor Mile at Boston University in a world U18 record time of 3:48.88.
The kid is on a tear
Seven days earlier, Ruthe ran 3:53.83 in Whanganui, New Zealand, setting the Oceania U18 record. One week before that, on January 17, he clocked 1:45.86 for the indoor 800 metres—also an Oceania U18 record. On December 20, the teenager ran 13:40.48 for 5,000 metres, once again rewriting the Oceania U18 record books.
With his mile performance in Boston, Ruthe became the youngest athlete ever to run faster than 3:50.00 and eclipsed the New Zealand men’s record held by Sir John Walker for 44 years. Walker’s mark of 3:49.08 was set outdoors in Oslo, Norway, in 1982.
Ruthe’s run makes him the 11th-fastest man in history indoors and places him 16th on the all-time indoor list. The world record is held by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 3:45.14 last February in Liévin, France. While 3.74 seconds may seem like a significant gap, the difference between age 16 and age 24—Ingebrigtsen’s age when he set the record—is even larger. In other words, Ruthe has time on his side.
At the same age, Ingebrigtsen did not appear to run a mile, but ran several 1500m races. The best was 3:42.44 outdoors in Oslo. This would be equivalent to 3:59.00 and likely slower on an indoor track.
Travel-weary—and a first taste of indoors
“When I was coming into this race, I was expecting to run sub-3:55,” Ruthe told the track broadcasters. “I wasn’t really expecting a personal best.
“I flew out here three days ago from New Zealand—fifty hours of travel—and my legs were feeling heavy beforehand. I think I can run faster, but I’m super stoked with that.”
“To come here and run so fast so early on, it just makes me love indoor tracks. I want to come here as much as possible,” he added.
Remarkably, the race marked Ruthe’s first-ever competition on an indoor track.
Finishing in second place was Pieter Sisk of Belgium in 3:50.31 for a new personal best, and taking third was Davis Bove of the US in 3:51.08, also in a new personal best time.
For Sisk, his performance will be a new Belgian national record. He improved upon the previous record of 3:53.98 as set by Thomas Vanoppen in February 2024 at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational at Boston University.
Twenty-five athletes ran faster than 4:00.00. Twelve ran better than 3:55.00.
