Yiannis Kouros

Yiannis Kouros (born 13 February 1956 in Tripoli, Kingdom of Greece) is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Greece. Kouros holds or formerly held many world records between 100 miles and 1,000 miles. 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 a record time of 20 hours and 25 minutes. He also won the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1985 in a record time of 5 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes, and 6 seconds, beating the previous record held by Cliff Young. Kouros held Australian citizenship for part of his running career and was inducted into the Australian Ultra Runners Association's Hall of Fame in 2019. In 1990, following a dispute with his employer in Greece, Kouros emigrated to Australia. He became an Australian citizen in 1994. Twenty years later, in 2014, at the age of 58, Kouros retired from ultrarunning competition. Concerning the secret of his success, Kouros claims: "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, several of which appear in his books, Symblegmata ("Clusters") and The Six-Day Run of the Century. The first road race event, Yiannis Kouros Tripolis Run, took place on 19 and 20 September 2026 in Tripoli, in honor of Yiannis Kouros.

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