UTMB 2025 women’s results: Ruth Croft makes UTMB history as gutsy Courtney Dauwalter eclipsed

Ruth Croft became the first woman to win UTMB’s big three finals when she claimed a famous triumph in the blue riband Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.

The New Zealander won CCC in 2015 and OCC in both 2018 and 2019 while last year she was runner-up to Katie Schide in a record-breaking edition of the 174km UTMB.

That year she made a conservative start before moving through the field late on but she changed the tactics this year and was fully rewarded despite brutal overnight conditions which forced a change of route.

As the great Courtney Dauwalter endured a tough second half race and dropped down the leaderboard having held an 11-minute lead at the 100km mark at Arnouvaz, Croft took over at the head of affairs and never looked back.

She crossed the line in Chamonix in 22:56:23, which was over half an hour ahead of Camille Bruyas (FRA) in second. Katharina Hartmuth (GER) took third.

It also completed an historic double for coach Scott Johnston who looks after both Croft and men’s winner Tom Evans.

How the race played out

This time Croft made a fast start and there was little between her and Dauwalter, who was seeking a fourth success.

Due to the deteriorating weather conditions – cold wind and a hailstorm – the section of the route at the Pyramides Calcairies, which was the highest point of the course, had been removed, with runners instead heading directly to Lac Combal.

Despite that, all looked to be going to plan for the GOAT Dauwalter in the middle section of the race and she led by more than 11 minutes from Bruyas at Arnouvaz, with another six minutes back to Croft in third.

But things started to change soon after that on the Grand Col Ferret climb as the gap began to come down and by Champex-Lac at 128km it was Croft who now led the way, six minutes ahead of both Dauwalter and Bruyas.

Ruth Croft UTMB mountains 2025 — Ruth Croft on her way to an epic win [Photo credit: UTMB]

That was an advantage she would never relinquish and by the final aid station of La Flégère, Croft had nearly half an hour in hand on Bruyas as Dauwalter was gutsily battling on but was tumbling down the standings.

At the line the gap between Croft and Bruyas was 32 minutes and 25 seconds.

‘Courtney will always be the GOAT’

Croft becomes the first Kiwi – female or male – to win trail running’s biggest race and speaking shortly afterwards she said: “2015 was my first year in Chamonix when I won CCC so it’s taken 10 years to get to this point.

“I knew if I wanted to have a chance then I needed to start aggressively this year.

“I owe a big part to my coach Scott Johnston but I DNF’d Transvulcania in May because of hypothermia and that really helped me handle the conditions last night.

“Last year I really enjoyed UTMB but last night was a very different experience. As soon as it started to get cold I knew I just had to survive the night so I backed off quite a bit and just made sure I stayed as warm as possible. And then as soon as day broke I was able to start moving a bit better. From there I just had better sensations overall.”

And asked about Courtney Dauwalter, she paid a lovely tribute when she added: “It was a privilege to get to race her finally but she’s the GOAT – always has been, always will be.”