Former All Black Liam Messam set for Ironman debut in Taupō this Saturday

Former All Black Liam Messam will tackle his first Ironman in Taupō this weekend.

The 40-year-old had a decorated rugby career playing for the All Blacks 46 times including winning a Rugby World Cup title, two Super Rugby titles with the Chiefs and two Commonwealth Games gold medals with the All Black 7s.

On Saturday he will aim to complete a 3.8km swim, 180km bike, and a 42.2km run at ANZCO Foods Ironman New Zealand, a statement from the event said today.

“Training has been going, I don’t know if it’s been going well or not, but it’s been going,” Messam said.

I’m just getting through the workload – she’s a pretty big workload. I’m not sure how people do this year in, year out, but I caught myself slipping last week, as I was actually enjoying riding on the bike.

“It’s been a grind, but I guess the light’s at the end of the tunnel, and it’s getting pretty close to the finish.

“I actually don’t know what I’m doing with myself for the next few months afterwards because it’s been time consuming, but I’ve actually really enjoyed the different styles of training,” he said.

New Zealand All Blacks Liam Messam and Sonny Bill Williams celebrate with the Webb Ellis Cup, after winning the Rugby World Cup Final, between New Zealand All Blacks and Australia, held at Twickenham Stadium, at the Rugby World Cup 2015.

After stepping away from the All Blacks in 2015, Messam had stints in the Japanese Top League, represented New Zealand once again at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with the All Black 7s, returned to his beloved Chiefs to become their all-time highest capped player, and headed to France to link up with Toulon in the top 14 before officially retiring from rugby in 2022.

Messam currently boxes professionally with seven wins, one loss, and one draw to his name.

Not satisfied with two highly successful sporting careers, Messam decided to enter the world of triathlon last year and set his sights on completing his first Ironman.

“I think the guts of it is that I really want to test myself mentally and physically. I love training, I love training hard and also with my boxing and rugby I’ve always pushed myself in the trenches and I love to go deep and really mentally pushing myself,” Messam said.

“Then one day I just was watching a half Ironman and I saw the pros go past and I was super impressed with just how fast they were running, they’re pretty much sprinting, and then I just saw just your everyday person start coming off their bike and trying to walk and I just thought, this is it.

“And then from there I got on to some people I know, and here we are today.”

Messam has thrown himself into triathlon, training under the guidance of All Blacks performance coach Nic Gill, himself an Ironman New Zealand finisher, for almost a year to hone his swim, bike, and run skills and fitness.

“Nic has been awesome for me and Theresa, our All Blacks physio who’s also doing it, he’s been giving us lots of little gold nuggets,” Messam said.

Messam currently boxes professionally with seven wins, one loss, and one draw to his name. Photo / Photosport

“We actually did a trial run last Sunday in Taupō, we did a 2km swim and a bike ride to Reporoa and back, and then a little bit of a run. It was good just to get a lay of the land and to know where the transitions are.

“So, I’d like to say that I’m prepared, but you’re never really prepared because you know you’re going to go into a pretty deep hole mentally and physically.”

Messam said he will be supported by friends and family on the day and will race alongside his brother who has also entered.

“All our mates are going to come down, they think it’s pretty awesome that I’ve put myself into this situation to compete.

“So, I’ll have a bit of a crew that have been given instructions on how to support and how to cheer me on, because if I’m smiling and I’m happy, then they can cheer me on.

“But if I look like I’m in a world of pain and I’m in the hurt locker, then I’ve suggested that they just let me be and don’t say anything,” he said.

Messam said he just wanted to get to the finish line and complete it.

“The thing about Ironman and all this training is when people know what you’re doing and have been involved in the sport, there’s so many little gold nuggets and things that people want to help you with.

“Someone said, just race your own race and don’t worry about setting yourself a time to finish, just complete it.

“Because when you tell people you’ve finished an Iromman they’re not going to ask you what the time was, they’re going go to ‘wow, you’ve finished an Ironman.’”

“That was actually quite a good nugget for me because I’m a very, very competitive person.

“I just want to get through it and just complete the whole thing. It’ll be a massive achievement because it’s a long day. I have heard that you catch the bug 20m out from the end of an Ironman, so I’ll be making sure I have my fly spray and my fly swat to make sure I don’t catch any Ironman bug.”

More information on Ironman NZ click here.