Florida man tried to run across Atlantic in hamster wheel

A foolhardy Florida marathoner was busted trying to run across the Atlantic in what is effectively a giant hamster wheel — and with a hurricane racing in.

Reza Baluchi, 44, was spotted late last month about 70 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, as Hurricane Franklin caused life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, in a criminal complaint shared by Fox News.

Photos showed him in the middle of the quirky homemade contraption, or Hydro Pod, consisting of a metal drum with inflatable buoys on each side, as well as paddles powered by him running inside the ball.

“Based on the condition of the vessel — which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys — USCG officers determined Baluchi was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage,” the affidavit said.

Baluchi reportedly told his rescuers he planned to “run” more than 4,000 miles more to cross the ocean to London — then repeatedly threatened to kill himself rather than end his wheely risky run.

He claimed to have a 12-inch knife and even a bomb, sparking the three-day standoff before he finally disembarked Friday at the USCG Base in Miami Beach, Florida.

Baluchi’s bizarre attempt to reinvent the wheel dramatically backfired — as he was hit with federal charges for obstruction of boarding and violation of a Captain of the Port order.

Baluchi’s has previously been stopped making similar stunts on his Hydro Pod in 2014, 2016 and 2021.

“My goal is to not only raise money for homeless people, raise money for the Coast Guard, raise money for the police department, raise money for the fire department,” Baluchi told Fox 35 after his 2021 stunt.

“They are in public service, they do it for safety, and they help other people.”

Even after he’d been stopped several times, Baluchi said he wasn’t planning on giving up.

“I’ll never give up my dream. They stop me four or five times, but I never give up,” he said.

With Post wires.