Liam Messam won last year’s Ultimate Athlete. Te Ao Toa travelled to Mount Maunganui to check out who would be this year's winner.
"It was awesome, what an event," was how one of Liam's teammates described the more than 10km challenge.
"Honestly, there were a few difficult challenges but the best part of it was we worked as a team, never left a man behind."
Another member of his team, who was adamant he would "for sure" be back next year, told Liam, with a grin on his face, the best part was "probably seeing you run with no shoes on, to be honest."