Ruth Croft

Ruth Charlotte Croft (born 15 January 1989) is a New Zealand ultramarathon and trail runner. Croft was the silver medalist at the 2019 Trail World Championships. Her victories at major international races include the Tarawera Ultramarathon, Western States, Ultra Trail Cape Town, and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc World Series Final.

Early life Born on 15 January 1989 in Greymouth, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, Croft grew up in the small town of Stillwater. She also competed as a junior at both the 2005 and 2007 World Mountain Running Championships.

Running Croft began competing in more trail races while living in Taiwan, and eventually became a sponsored athlete with Garmin. She won the Mt. Kinabalu International Climbathon 50k in Malaysia in 2013 and 2014. She also won the 100-km CCC event at UTMB in 2015, and followed that with a fourth-place finish at the highly competitive North Face 50 in San Francisco, California. She moved away from Taiwan in 2017, splitting her time between Europe and New Zealand. At the 2019 Trail World Championships in Miranda do Corvo, Portugal, Croft won the silver medal behind Blandine L'Hirondel of France. It was the first medal for a New Zealand athlete in trail world championship history.

Croft competed in her first 100-mile race at Western States in 2021, having a successful debut in finishing second behind English runner Beth Pascall. She returned the next year to win Western States in a time of 17:21:30.

Croft won the 100-km Ultra Trail Cape Town in South Africa in November 2023. She was scheduled to run UTMB in 2023, but came down with a virus days before the race and did not start. She returned to UTMB in 2024, finishing second behind Katie Schide. In February 2025, Croft defended her title at the Tarawera Ultramarathon (her third win overall) and set a new course record. In 2025, she won the UTMB, making her the first female and only second person to win OCC, CCC and UTMB.

Non-racing Croft ran the length of the 125-mile Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland in 2022. In 2023, she ran the historic Nakasendo Trail in Japan along with Tim Tollefson and Olympians Magda Boulet and Desiree Linden.

Major race wins

Year Race Location Distance / category Time Notes Ref. 2013 Mt. Kinabalu International Climbathon Sabah, Malaysia 50 km — First major international mountain-running win 2017 Translantau Hong Kong 50 km — International trail win while based in Asia 2023 Ultra-Trail Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 100 km 12:12:20 Major international 100 km win 2024 Tarawera Ultra-Trail by UTMB Rotorua, New Zealand 102 km 9:14:14 Second Tarawera 100 km-class win 2025 UTMB Chamonix, France 100M 22:56:23 First woman to win CCC, OCC and UTMB 2025 Ultra-Trail Ninghai by UTMB Ninghai, China 60 km 5:51:49 UTMB World Series win in China 2026 Tarawera Ultra-Trail by UTMB Rotorua, New Zealand 102 km 8:41:11 Third straight Tarawera 102 km win

Personal life As of 2021, Croft was studying for a career in naturopathy.