Tim Franklin is a modern day Forrest Gump as well as superfan of Triple M’s Marty Sheargold Show. Franklin ran for more than 580 days and 24,000 kilometres, overcoming floods, snowstorms, exhaustion, dog bites and being hit by cars to set foot on every continent and become the first Australian to run from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States of America, raising money for Lung Foundation Australia, Inspiring Brighter Futures Foundation and Wings for Life.

Sheargold’s show has been following the journey for the last 18 months after Tim said that Marty had inspired him for his world record attempt. Sadly Tim’s father’s died during his North American leg.

Sheargold: “For those of you just tuning in, we followed Tim’s journey for 14, 15, 16 months. We were alerted to it through our socials. You’ve set out to do is run around the world. Initially, you wanted to be the fastest. You had a personal tragedy with your father passing away which made that an impossibility. But you decided to continue on.”

Franklin: “I wanted to chase the (world) record. It was probably never really about that. I mean, that’s probably a cop out to say that now that I’m not going to get it (laughs). But I wanted to go on a journey of self-discovery. So, we set out… but obviously, the passing of my father meant I came home for the last few days with him. The last few words he said to me was, “You go and finish this damned run.”

Franklin’s journey will conclude in Brisbane in June.