New Zealand’s Ruth Croft is racing the 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon, as reigning champion and course record holder. In this interview, she talks about what brings her back to this unique race for the third time, how last year’s race played out from her perspective, her build-up, and how she hopes to improve for this year.
For more on who’s racing, check out our in-depth women’s and men’s previews and follow our live coverage here on the website and on Twitter/X over the weekend.
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Ruth Croft Pre-2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Sarah Brady of iRunFar. I’m here just before the 2025 Transvulcania with Ruth Croft. How are you doing, Ruth?
Ruth Croft: I’m doing well. Good to see you.
iRunFar: Yeah, great to see you again. So, when did you get here, and how was your journey from New Zealand?
Croft: I arrived last Thursday. It kind of takes 40 hours to get from New Zealand, and so I always like to give myself plenty of time to get over the jet lag. I found over the years it takes me five days to kind of start feeling normal. And so, yeah, I always like to arrive a bit earlier.
iRunFar: And how are you feeling now? Are you starting to feel human again?
Croft: Yeah, definitely. Yesterday things started to feel a lot better than they have been.
iRunFar: Have you got out for some little runs on the course? I know you know it pretty well, but have you got out this year on it?
Croft: Yeah, so last week I went up to El Pilar because it’s, I think, the only place where you can actually run flat, maybe, on this island. I did an out-and-back there, and then also went a bit back on the course. But I honestly haven’t spent a lot of time going over it. This is my third time racing, and so I think I know it well enough going into race day.
iRunFar: And you have a great history here. You were third in your first time here, back in 2016, and then you won last year. You have the course record. So, I was just wondering, what is it that brings you back for more?
Croft: I think it’s a pretty unique course. Like, you start at the ocean and then climb up a volcano, around the caldera, and then back down into Tazacorte. I think it’s a really stunning course, and seeing the sunrise, and that the island really gets behind the race too. And then also it just worked in with the timeline for the year. I don’t like to leave New Zealand too early. And so it worked out timewise. And also, the course is kind of similar, like my goal this year is UTMB. Just the way the course is really works in.
iRunFar: Yeah, there’s lots of climb, but it’s fairly runnable, so I guess that’s similar.
Croft: Yeah.
iRunFar: Then just to talk about your race last year. You obviously had a storm where you came away with the course record. You were in the lead for maybe 50k, and then Ida Nilsson caught up with you just at the top.
Croft: Yeah.
iRunFar: But then you gained a good bit of time on the long descent after that. From an outside perspective, it looked like you had a great race. But how was it for you?
Croft: I really struggled with the altitude, to be honest. And then the section up to the high point where Ida caught me, I felt like I wasn’t moving very well. And definitely, yeah, she gave me a fright when I turned and saw her. But I still had the legs on the descent, which I think really matters for this race. I think you can lose or gain a lot of places just on the descent because it is quite long. And so, yeah, I was just pleased that I could pull it together for the last part.
iRunFar: And then you came in just two minutes under the course record, which was actually held by Ida before that.
Croft: Yeah.
iRunFar: Do you think having somebody kind of put the pressure on you at that point helped you to get a better time?
Croft: Oh, for sure. Like it always makes you work a lot harder. And I was already working hard up until that point too, but it definitely pushes you.
iRunFar: Amazing. And then obviously that was a really good performance, but is there anything you think you’d like to do differently this year?
Croft: I think every time you come to a race that you’ve done before, you just want to improve or progress. And so I would like to just run better in that section where I struggled last year. After the El Pilar, there’s about, I don’t know if it’s 8k kind of flat, and then you start climbing again to the high point. And so it’s there that I would like to feel better, at least.
iRunFar: And then to talk about the training that you’ve done. I see you’ve been training with a weighted vest for climbing. Is that part of the plan for getting stronger in the climbs?
Croft: Yeah. This kind of starting to look towards UTMB. And I did the same sessions last year, and it really helps. Definitely get a lot stronger. And so, I’ve been doing that back in New Zealand.
iRunFar: Looks like fun. Type-2 fun.
Croft: I’m lucky my partner runs the vest down so I don’t smash up my quads too much.
iRunFar: Good system. Then last year since Transvulcania, you’ve had a busy year. We last saw you at UTMB. You did a great race. You took second there. And I know that was your longest race in terms of time. You’d obviously done faster 100 miles before. So how was your recovery after that?
Croft: It was pretty slow, but also kind of how I expected it to be. And I kind of probably didn’t help the situation. I took five weeks off completely from running. I did, maybe, I think it was like a 40-minute run and an hour spinning. And so when I did eventually start back training, it was pretty horrendous. But it was just the time I needed mentally to just step away from the sport and to do other things and make sure that when I did come back to training, I was fully recovered.
iRunFar: And what did you do with that time? Anything fun?
Croft: I’m studying naturopathy as well. And so, I do that on the side. I could put a bit more time towards that. I rented a concrete grinder and did our basement. And also I went and did Vipassana, which is 10 days silent meditation.
iRunFar: Oh, fabulous. So you came back really refreshed then after all that.
Croft: Yeah, definitely. And our basement looks pretty good, too. [laughs]
iRunFar: That was really productive time out.
Croft: Yeah.
iRunFar: And then I know you were in New Zealand for Southern Hemisphere summer then and you did Tarawera. What did your training look like in the build-up to that?
Croft: It’s been pretty good because the training I did last year is pretty similar to what I’ve been doing this year. Obviously, I did Tarawera last year, too. So we kind of worked a bit more on my flat running speed going into Tarawera. And then we’ve transitioned into more getting ready for the mountains. But we also had a bit of time to do other things as well, like tramping in New Zealand. And I feel it’s progressed probably a bit better than what it did last year.
iRunFar: How do you feel like the tramping kind of fits in with your training, other than being enjoyable? Do you think that extra time on feet is beneficial?
Croft: Yeah, it is until you get injured. After Tarawera, we did a bit too much tramping and my ant-tib [tibialis anterior] flared up from all the movement, kind of pulling your foot up. I actually had to take some time off. I think it’s a fine line between tramping and then making sure it’s beneficial for training as well.
iRunFar: I guess it’s easy to do too much.
Croft: Yeah, definitely.
iRunFar: Well, can’t wait to see you out there this weekend. I hope it all goes great and you have a great race.
Croft: Thanks. Thanks for being here.
iRunFar: See you at the finish. Thank you.
Croft: Cheers.
