Sam Ruthe (right) and training mate Sam Tanner will line up at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
Teen mile sensation Sam Ruthe faces a "no-lose" proposition this weekend, when he lines up in the strongest field of his young athletics career at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne.
Last week, Ruthe, 15, became the youngest man to break four minutes over four laps of a standard running track, clocking 3m 58.35s at Mt Smart Stadium.
After a summer that also saw him become the youngest to win a senior men's national title - capturing the 3000 metres crown in Hastings, then adding another with a dead-heat for victory over 1500 metres - the Tauranga phenom has become hot property internationally and will test the waters in a world-class field at Oceania's most prestigious meet.
On the IAAF pecking order of events, the Plant meet, named after a revered Australia promoter and agent, is rated 'gold' on the world continental tour - below only the 15 Diamond League meetings.
With a personal best of 3m 41.25s - also the fastest ever by a 15-year-old - Ruthe is ranked 12th of the 14 entries. One of those behind him is the designated pacemaker, who will likely take the race through 800 metres, before dropping out.
"It's a stacked field and he'd be one of the slowest in the field, so he'll just jump in there and see what happens," coach Craig Kirkwood told RNZ.
"It's really a no-lose situation for him - he'll run really fast or he'll blow up trying, and either way, it's a great learning experience for him."
Fastest in the field is Commonwealth Games champion Olli Hoare, whose 3m 29.41s two years ago stands as the Oceania record. Second- fastest is Ruthe's training mate, Sam Tanner (3m 31.34s).
Perhaps the most intriguing rival on Saturday is Aussie Cam Meyers, 18, whose career has followed a very similar course to Ruthe's. Two years ago, aged 16 years 259 days, he became the then-second-youngest to break four minutes for a mile, nine days older than Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has since won two Olympic gold medals.
Meyers and Ruthe have not met before, but they have already established a rapport over social media.
"They've had some contact via Instagram, so they've connected and become friends," Kirkwood said. "It's cool to have someone who has walked the path taking an interest in what he's doing - pretty special for him."
Meyers now has personal bests of 3m 47.48s for the mile and 3m 32.67s over 1500m, both set in the same indoors race at New York in February. During his incredible run of results this season, Ruthe has frequently drawn comparisons with both Meyers and Ingebrigtsen.
Sam Ruthe and Sam Tanner deadheat for the national 1500 metres title at Dunedin. Photo: Supplied / NZ Athletics
"[Meyers] has done so many special things in the sport and set some times you can measure against at a similar age," Kirkwood said. "We're not trying to do that, it's not our goal, but it gives us an indication of where he's sitting in relation to what Cam has done in the past and what people like Jakob Ingebrigtsen has done as well.
"They are definitely people who have walked this path before - there's only a few of them - and it gives us an indication of where he's tracking."
Former marathoner Kirkwood has previously enjoyed coaching success with two-time Olympian Tanner and Kiwi triathlon star Hayden Wilde, but admits Ruthe's progress has taken him by surprise, despite a pedigree that saw his parents win many national titles over a variety of distances and terrain, and grandparents that medalled at Commonwealth Games and European championships.
"I've coached him just over two years, so he started with me into year nine at high school," Kirkwood said. "We knew he was going to be really good, but probably not as good as he's got so quickly.
"That would shock anyone in this situation - it's been a pretty rapid rise to the top of the sport."
The youngster emerged as a future star during an amazing week that saw him record just miss a four-minute mile at Whanganui, clock 1m 50s for 800 metres at Wellington and capture the 3000m title. The following week, he ran his best 1500m at Auckland.
"We had to rejig his season after a few races, because we decided this Maurie Plant Meet this weekend would be a really good option, if he could get a start," Kirkwood said. "In order to do that, we had to make sure he wasn't over-raced.
"We pulled him out of a few races on the domestic scene, so he could make it through without be burnt out or overdoing the racing. "He was in a real purple patch and that was when we decided we wouldn't send him to Christchurch for the [International Track Meet] and he did a pacemaking job at the Porritt Classic, instead of racing.
"We've been deliberately cautious and hopefully that will pay dividends in his longevity in the sport. We don't put any pressure on him to perform at any level. He's just out there having a go and keeping it as fun as he can possibly make it."
The slowest entrant in the Melbourne field - aside from the 'rabbit' - is 16-year-old Lucas Chis, whose 3m 42.20s best is only marginally short of Ruthe's.
This will be Ruthe's last outing of the southern hemisphere summer, although he is due to contest a two-mile race against top American high school athletes at Arcadia, California, on April 12 - the day he turns 16.
