Photography: Fiona Tomlinson, Jamie Shipton-Mourn.
West Coast runner Ruth Croft may have lost a few toenails and fainted when the event was over, but she’ll never regret the sacrifices she made to become the first woman to win all three races that make up the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) festival.
This triumph saw the naturopathy student, 36, who hails from the tiny town of Stillwater, near Greymouth, realise a 10-year goal – placing first in the UTMB’s 175km race. To understand the distance
she ran, it helps to know that the Mont-Blanc 161km trail crosses three countries – Italy, Switzerland and France. Ruth ran for just under 23 hours, stopping for a mere 16 minutes at recovery stations along the way.
“It was something I’ve been working towards for a long time, so it kind of all paid off,” she says from her Lake Hāwea home.
Balancing life between two countries
Living with her partner Martin Gaffuri, Ruth spends half the year in Aotearoa and the other in France. The training in the lead-up to the race was immense as the Mont-Blanc course is known as the “most mythical and prestigious” trail-running race in the world.
During the brutal event, Ruth’s toenails fell off and she fainted when it was over. She says it’s also common for people to lose bowel control along the way – “explosive” being the word she uses to describe one fellow runner’s experience.
The physical toll on runners
“It’s not a healthy sport,” she admits.
“It’s terrible for you. They say ultras are like eating competitions in disguise.”
That’s because ultra- marathon runners are trying to consume as much energy as possible via gels and powders while running.
Body in shock after the race
“When you finish an ultra, it’s like your whole body’s in shock because of what you’ve put it through,” says Ruth.
“Your blood pressure is trying to recalibrate again – you don’t sleep, I lost five toenails and normally your stomach’s pretty gone as well. It can be quite hard to eat post-race, so yeah, there’s a lot going on.”
Recovering and rebuilding
In the days following, Ruth slowly weans herself back to eating real food.
“You’re in such a deficit at that point, it’s just making sure you’re trying to get in as many calories as possible.”
Her go-tos are pizza, burgers and fries – food she would never have imagined eating when she was 16 and struggling with bulimia.
“I had an eating disorder when I was younger, so I think I’ve got to a point with food where it’s supposed to be enjoyed,” she shares.
A passion ignited early
Her love of running started young. Ruth recalls, “I was doing school cross-country and track meets, then when I was 14, I started taking it more seriously and joined a club.”
Representing New Zealand as a junior, the Adidas ambassador went to the US on a running scholarship, where she experienced burnout. Ruth had relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), a health issue that affects athletes, more often women, when they are under-fuelling the body.
“It affects all your hormones and a lot of females stop getting their periods,” she says.
“That alters your bone density, then you get a lot of stress fractures.”
Turning challenges into purpose
Those health challenges led her to study naturopathic medicine.
Her goal?
“Prevent females going down the path that I ended up going down,” she explains.
Finding balance beyond running
Now healthy physically and mentally, Ruth practises Vipassana meditation and has found balance in her life.
“It was that period that made me realise that I can’t rely on running to be the thing that brings me happiness or makes me a better person,” she tells.
“It’s been a really long process to get to the point where if you take the running away tomorrow, I’m totally fine.”
Support along the way
The support she receives from Martin, who works as a live commentator in the running industry, is invaluable. During the week of the UTMB, he called a few races, then drove to Italy to be Ruth’s dedicated crew.
“He helps me so much on the day and also in our relationship,” enthuses Ruth.
“The build-up to UTMB is a massive commitment. He’s really been the one who has supported me mentally and emotionally through that.”
She is also touched by how Kiwis from home rallied.
“The thing that blew me away was how many people actually followed along. There was so much support from New Zealand, especially people from the West Coast. “There’s a family friend who lives in Haast and drives a digger pretty much most of the day – he and his partner were following, and it didn’t finish until 2am. They watched the whole live stream. He said, ‘We don’t drink, but we had
a Baileys to toast.’”
For now, it’s back to base training 17 hours a week, and enjoying the hobbies Ruth and Martin love – tramping in the back country and pack rafting. For many, the thought of running that distance again would be terrifying, but for Ruth, it’s a joy.
“Even if you took the racing away, I would still be training,” she smiles.
“I just love the day-to-day grind. I get paid to go and run in the mountains. It’s a very privileged position to be in, to get to choose self-inflicted suffering.”
