Marios Giannakou, an ultra-distance athlete in extreme conditions, explains the key moments in his life that led him to participate in adventure races. He emphasizes the importance of small moments that lead to big changes and firmly believes that there is no wrong or right path, but only the path that makes us happy. Marios Giannakou (born March 28, 1992) is an ultra-distance athlete and explorer. He has excelled in ultra-distance races around the world including the 150 km race in the Arctic and the world's longest desert ultramarathon of 270 km in the Al Marmoum desert. He is a motivational speaker, motivating people to change habits and lifestyles. He has spoken at the popular TEDx speaker conference, the World Antibullying Conference and numerous other talks. He is one of 14 people in the world to finish the 150 km Arctic race in February 2018 and one of 18 athletes to finish the 270 km desert race. He holds the age record in the world's longest desert ultramarathon in December 2018 and in February 2020 he completed the 250km race in the Central American jungle. In addition, he holds the age record in the most historic 100 mile race in Greece and the second oldest in Europe of the ROUT CLASSIC 100 MILES race. In March 2022, he participated in the 500 km race in the Arctic Lapland Arctic Ultra which he completed after 8 days of continuous effort together with the American athlete Russ Reinbolt.
In October 2020, Eleftheria Tossiu, the first person with paraplegia to conquer the highest peak of the Balkans, climbed to the top of Olympus, an event that was covered by the international media.
He is also involved in painting, poetry and writing, while he is a columnist for the Alternative Action website and iRun magazine. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx