THERE was little for Australians to be excited about at the MCG today, but a couple of kilometres away a Melbourne man became the first person to complete 52 marathons in 52 weeks.

Tristan Miller received a hero's welcome from supporters and entered the record books when he crossed the finish line at Albert Park Lake at about lunchtime.



The 33-year-old former Melbourne High School student sold virtually everything he owned to fund his $120,000, 42-country, globe-trotting marathon, which included all seven continents.



Just over a week ago, he was running with 35 other competitors in Antarctica's "Ice Marathon".



He racked up a personal best of 3.03 hours in Berlin and came second in a 100km ultra marathon in Mongolia.



So what prompted such an ambitious and courageous - or is it insane - odyssey?



He started running six years ago following a divorce, but the catalyst came last year when he lost his sales job after his employer, Google, closed its Melbourne office during the global financial crisis.



"I thought, I don't have any attachments, I want to go and see the world ... so it was going into the unknown," he said today.



"Can you possibly do it in this manner? Maybe you can, maybe you can't, what would be really good is just to go and try."



The physical challenge was immense - most people couldn't do one marathon, let alone one a week for a year - but Miller insists the logistics were more demanding.



During the year he arrived in Costa Rica and discovered the race he was due to compete in had been cancelled.



He appealed for help on Facebook and an Argentinian man told him there was a race on in Mexico, and within a day he had flown there and was getting a lift to the event from another competitor.



"My philosophy all year was to break it down into the most simple terms: I just had to make sure I was there and then worry about the race when I get there," he said.



"I did two in two days a few times because I needed the space to get to the Antarctic marathon and the Mongolian marathon too."

It will take time for his achievement to sink in.



The year's highlights included finding a girlfriend and meeting people from around the world, many whom said he had inspired them.



"It had so many variables and so many issues attached to it and yet, the world kind of finds a way and makes it OK," he said.



"Even if you don't get what you want you kind of get what you need - very, very Rolling Stones - the things that come out of it might not be what you planned for, but they're usually pretty bloody good stories instead."



And his favourite marathon?



New York, he said, where some of his Australian friends joined him and ran.



"New York City is just a city on steroids, the marathon itself is out of control, there's two million people out there yelling at you just to make you keep running," he said.



Miller raised about $15,000 for UNICEF and Facing Africa.