Meet Scientologist Simone Leo. Few athletes on Earth have competed in the grueling 100 km Sahara Desert ultramarathon. Leo has run it twice.

It takes a certain level of courage to attempt running for 28 hours straight to complete a 100k ultramarathon through the Sahara Desert.

Simone Leo says his secret is that Scientology has given him hope and taught him what courage is all about—the two key factors that have seen him through.

Before becoming a Scientologist, Leo was anything but an athlete. Only a few short years ago, he was stuck in a dead-end job, isolated and unhappy. “I felt shut up in a factory … stuck there,” he says. He describes his former attitude as anti-sport par excellence. “I was a couch potato,” he says.

After reading his first Scientology book and beginning services at his Church, he changed his lifestyle dramatically, finding a job he enjoyed and becoming involved in sports. Not long afterward, completing his first marathon, he discovered his passion for long-distance running

When he races, Leo promotes The Way to Happiness—the nonreligious common-sense moral code written by humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. The book contains 21 precepts anyone of any faith or creed may use to put themselves on the road to a happier, more constructive and successful life. The “cape” Leo wears in many of his races is actually an Italian flag with the logo of The Way to Happiness in its center.

“Every day I apply Scientology to my life,” says Leo who describes the religion as his “fundamental secret” and the reason he has managed to achieve his goals.

Simone Leo is featured on the Scientology Network in I am a Scientologist series episode 4. The series features dozens of Scientologists from every corner of the world and every imaginable occupation, giving personal accounts of how their lives have been enriched through Scientology.

The Scientology Network is available on satellite TV and through live streaming via Scientology.tv. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and mobile apps that can be downloaded for smartphones and tablets.