Ruth Croft Wins 2025 UTMB Powered by Neversecond

When Ruth Croft crossed the finish line of the 2025 UTMB in Chamonix, it wasn’t just a triumph of endurance. It was the culmination of years of refinement, experimentation, and trust in both her body and her fueling strategy. Ultra-trail racing is often described as a test of grit, but in truth, it’s an all-out competition in the science of carbohydrate delivery. Ruth won not by chance, but by mastering what many call the “carbohydrate arms race.” And at the center of it all was her partnership with Neversecond.

A Long Road to the Top

Ruth didn’t arrive at UTMB overnight. Over the past decade, she’s steadily carved her place among the world’s best ultra-trail runners, known for her tactical racing and steady resolve. But like many endurance athletes, she’s had her battles with fueling. At the Western States Endurance Run (WSER) four years ago, Ruth openly struggled to get gels down. Her stomach revolted, forcing her to back off intake when she needed energy most. That experience planted a seed: if she wanted to thrive at the world’s biggest races, she had to train her gut as hard as she trained her legs. Fueling couldn’t be an afterthought. It had to become part of the performance equation.

A Year of Testing Behind the Scenes

In 2024, Ruth began experimenting quietly with Neversecond products, introducing them into training and small events. She kept things under wraps, letting her body dictate whether this new system was sustainable. Her first big behind-the-scenes test came at UTMB Tarawera Ultra, where she deployed Neversecond as a silent ally. The results spoke volumes: steady energy, no gastric blow-ups, and recovery that allowed her to bounce back quickly. By early 2025, Ruth made the call. Neversecond wasn’t just another nutrition brand. It was her partner for the biggest year of her career.

Building a Dynamic Fueling Strategy

With her nutritionist, Ruth built out a dynamic fueling strategy tailored for the demands of UTMB: 171 kilometers, 10,000 meters of climbing, and more than 23 hours of sustained effort. The principle was simple. Fuel according to exertion, not just the clock. This approach recognized that energy demands spike on climbs, ebb on descents, and require constant adjustment. The math was ruthless: she needed to sustain roughly 80 grams of carbohydrate, 600 milligrams of sodium, and 750 milliliters of fluid per hour. That kind of intake is not natural—it has to be trained. In the months before UTMB, Ruth incorporated gut training sessions where she deliberately practiced consuming high volumes of carbohydrate under race-like stress. Slowly, her body adapted. What once seemed impossible—tolerating gels for nearly a full day—became second-nature.

Tools of the Trade

Ruth’s fueling plan relied on a streamlined toolkit built around Neversecond’s C-Series system:

C30 Energy Gels – compact, isotonic, and easy to absorb. Ruth pre-loaded 250ml soft flasks with C30 gels, allowing her to sip steadily rather than choke down one packet at a time. This made fueling smoother and more consistent, especially in the cold, dark hours of the night.
C30 Unflavored Sports Drink Mix – Ruth turned to this neutral option for steady hydration and carb intake, avoiding the taste fatigue that so often plagues ultra athletes.
C30+ (Caffeine) Gels – timed strategically for key sections of the course to keep focus sharp when mental fatigue set in.

This modular approach gave Ruth flexibility. Every sip or squeeze delivered predictable 30-gram carbohydrate increments and carefully matched sodium ratios.

From Struggles to Mastery

The contrast to her WSER experience couldn’t have been starker. Where Ruth once gagged on gels, she now managed over 23 hours of uninterrupted fueling. Her gut was not a liability but a weapon. It’s worth pausing here: ultra-trail races don’t reward those who eat the most—they reward those who can absorb the most. The race is effectively a contest of carbohydrate transporters in the gut. By training her system and choosing the right products, Ruth had tipped the balance in her favor.

The Science Behind the Success

Neversecond’s philosophy is rooted in precise fueling. Every product is designed with a 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, optimized to push carbohydrate absorption up to 120 grams per hour without overwhelming the gut. Electrolytes are calibrated to replenish what athletes lose in sweat—about 200 milligrams of sodium per 30 grams of carbohydrate. For Ruth, this meant her fueling wasn’t random; it was a system. Each sip from her flask was another 30 grams of carbohydrate, another 200 milligrams of sodium, another step toward the finish line. It also meant her support crew could plan with surgical precision. Rather than fumbling with a buffet of mismatched products, Ruth’s table was stocked with just what she needed, pre-measured, predictable, and proven.

The Race Unfolds

UTMB 2025 was a battle of attrition. The field was stacked, the weather volatile, and the course as punishing as ever. But Ruth never wavered. Her pacing was steady, her fueling uninterrupted. While others faltered late—slowed by nausea, bonking, or hyponatremia—Ruth continued to click off kilometers, fueled by an engine that never ran dry. Observers noted how composed she looked through Courmayeur, how strong she climbed into Champex-Lac, and how relentless she was in the final push back to Chamonix. Behind the calm exterior was a gut working as hard as her quads, converting carbohydrate into motion hour after hour.

Not Just Another Win

Ruth’s UTMB victory wasn’t just personal. It was a blueprint for how modern ultrarunning is evolving. Long gone are the days when athletes could “wing it” on bananas and cola. Today’s ultra scene is, as Ruth proved, a carbohydrate arms race. Winning requires more than talent. It requires a partnership between athlete, coach, and nutritionist, all backed by products that deliver science in every sip. Ruth’s triumph showed what happens when those elements align.

Lessons for Every Athlete

Not everyone is racing UTMB, but every endurance athlete can learn from Ruth’s journey:

Fueling is trainable. Just as you build aerobic capacity, you can build gut tolerance.
Consistency beats improvisation. Random snacks won’t cut it in long races; predictable fueling keeps energy stable.
Match intake to exertion. Ruth’s dynamic strategy recognized that the body’s needs change with terrain and intensity.
Simplify your system. A streamlined kit—like Neversecond’s modular 30-gram increments—reduces mental load when fatigue sets in.

Looking Ahead

Ruth Croft’s UTMB win will be remembered as one of the great performances in trail running history, but also as a watershed moment in the sport’s relationship with science. She proved that fueling isn’t an accessory—it’s the foundation. For Neversecond, the victory underscored what the brand has stood for since its inception: science-first solutions for athletes who refuse to leave performance to chance. For Ruth, it was validation that every trial, every gut-training session, and every flask of C30 brought her one step closer to the summit of the sport. And for the rest of us? It’s a reminder that success in endurance sport doesn’t just belong to the strongest legs or the fiercest hearts—it belongs to those who fuel smart.

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