Yiannis Kouros

Yiannis Kouros (Γιάννης Κούρος, ; 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 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 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 from Greece to Australia; in 1994, he became an Australian citizen; it seems that twenty years later, in 2014 aged 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.

World records
According to the International Association of Ultrarunners,.