Yiannis Kouros

Who is Yiannis Kouros?

Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days. In 1991, he starred as Pheidippides in the movie The Story of the Marathon: A Hero's Journey, which chronicles the history of marathon running.

Kouros came to prominence when he won the Spartathlon in 1984 in record time and the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1985 in a record time of 5 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 6 seconds. He beat the previous record held by Cliff Young.

Kouros says that his secret is that "when other people get tired they stop, I DON'T. I take over my body with my mind I tell it that it's not tired and it listens".

Kouros has also written over 1,000 poems and the book The Six-Day Run of the Century.