‘Australia’s Forrest Gump’ reaches final leg of around the world run

An Australian man's dream to become the fastest person to run from one end of the world to the other, is today quite a few steps closer.

Tim Franklin, known as "Australia's Forrest Gump", arrived in Perth on Saturday for the last leg of his globe trotting adventure.

So far, it's been five continents, 17 countries and more than 19,000 kilometres on the around the world trip.

Franklin had set off on December 2022 with a world record in his sights and has been averaging more than a marathon a day for the past 427 days.

Along his travels he's faced floods, snow, exhaustion and injury but worst of all, heartbreak.

The 40-year-old's toughest test came when he found out his father was dying.

Franklin decided to pause his run to be able 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 in Perth today.

The pause in proceedings knocked him out of world record pace but it didn't derail his dream. In fact, it fuelled the fire.

To "officially" run around the world, certain kilometres need to completed in each continent.

After starting in New Zealand, Franklin went coast to coast across the US, then South America, and across from Spain though Europe to the Black Sea.

After a short stint in Asia he arrived Down Under, landing in Western Australia 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."

There's 7000kms to go and hundreds of thousands of dollars to raise for charity, as well as countless fans to meet – the runner mobbed for selfies as he took part in the Cottesloe Run on Saturday.

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.