'Australia's Forrest Gump' reaches major milestone
The man dubbed Australia's Forrest Gump has arrived back Down Under to complete the final leg of a mammoth journey.
Tim Franklin has long dreamed of becoming the fastest person to run from one end of the world to the other, and has already completed most of his journey.
The 40-year-old has run over 19,000 kilometres through 17 countries across five continents, setting off on his epic adventure in December 2022.
With a world record in his sights, has been averaging more than a marathon a day for the past 427 days, as he battled floods, snow, exhaustion and injury on his travels.
The worst of his hurdles came when his father was dying, as he decided to pause his journey to come home and say his goodbyes to the man he describes as "my hero, my mentor".
"That message he gave me of 'go out and finish that damn run' was the last thing he said to me before he passed away," Franklin told 9News.
The pause in proceedings knocked him out of world record pace but it didn't derail his dream and only further fuelling the fire for him to achieve his goals.
In order to "officially" run around the world, certain kilometres need to completed in each continent.
Franklin started his journey in New Zealand, before heading coast to coast across the US, then South America, and across from Spain through Europe to the Black Sea.
After a short stint in Asia he decided to head back to Australia, landing in Perth to a surprise greeting from his siblings.
Now, it's the beginning of the end as Franklin makes his way from Perth to Brisbane, via Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
"[I'm] really excited to be back here in Aus for the last leg of my run."
When he finally reaches Queensland, his friends and family will be waiting but there's one thing the 40-year-old is looking forward to most.
"I just wanna give my mum a hug to be honest," he said.
Image credits: 9News