Crossword Genius

Strongly desire potholer to take run-up (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crave

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'strongly desire' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'potholer to take run-up' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'take' could be 'r' (recipe is latin for take - r is abbreviation) and 'r' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'cave' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for crave that I've seen before include "Beg; long for" , "Lust after" , "Long for, desire" , "Hunger for" , "Powerfully desire" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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