Racing
League
Rugby
Football
Cricket
Golf
Sport Nation
Motorsport
Netball
Basketball
Combat Sports
Olympics
Other Sports
'Inhospitable': Kiwi ultrarunner Ruth Croft on conquering Diagonale des Fous
Sport Nation • October 21st, 2026 1:15 pm
Ruth Croft | Photo: I Run Far
Kiwi ultramarathon runner Ruth Croft has clinched yet another title in her illustrious career, claiming the 180km Diagonale des Fous on Réunion Island last week.
Croft, 37, conquered the gruelling race just seven weeks after pulling pin on her UTMB title defence due to family reasons.
After completing the race in 27 hours, 13 minutes and 23 seconds, Croft explained how she approached the "inhospitable" trek.
"It actually started at 10 PM - you start down by the ocean and then you go through quite a lot of different climates. The first 55km you're essentially climbing up and then it just got into bit of a bog pit," Croft told Sport Nation's Scotty & Izzy.
"We're just like running over a rock salad for 25km, then you climb up to the caldera of the volcano then you drop in. And it's I'd say, pretty inhospitable in there, gets pretty hot.
"You don't see your crew too much in there. And we had about, I think it was 40 or 50km and then you're going to climb out of this caldera again. You get to the top of it and you've still got 60km to go.
"I pretty much felt terrible for the first 65km, then a little less terrible, and then felt good for the last 60. So yeah, I was able to get cranking in the last part of the race."
The ultramarathon runner then provided insight into why she started trail-running, admitting she'd never imagine being where she is today, racing full-time.
"When I first got into trail running, I just did it because I was passionate about it. And back then, that was probably over 12 years ago, it was never really a profession.
"Like a lot of us, we didn't do it for the money. It wasn't a job. You had to have an actual job on the side to fund going to do these races. And I'm just lucky that the sport has actually progressed to the point where it is now, where I can do it as a full-time gig and get paid to, yeah, go run 180km."
Listen to the full interview below:
