And that is the difference between Forrest Gump and someone who admits he is just a little bit crazy.
The 70-year-old Australian long-distance runner is in Dunedin to compete in the Masters Games and get in some serious training for an epic journey which will take him to 27 countries.
Hebel is planning to run 20,000km in 500 days - yes, 20,000km.
He is calling it his heritage run and will set off on his 71st birthday - October 23 - from Hebel, Queensland, bound for Hebel, Germany.
"My psychiatrist thinks I'm mad. I laugh and tell him, `No, I'm just crazy'. Madmen don't make it, crazy people plan.
"I've been planning for 10 years to do this."
But before he begins the mammoth excursion he is going to warm up with a 1000km run around the lower South Island and Central Otago.
He plans to start on Sunday, with a short burst to Milton before skipping across to Cromwell, Queenstown and Wanaka.
He has to be in Christchurch by February 14 to catch his flight back to Australia.
Look out for him on the roads because, as unbelievable as it sounds, Hebel has form, and plenty of it.
He became something of a celebrity in Australia late last year when he walked from Gympie (160km north of Brisbane) to the World Masters Games in Sydney and back again, a round trip of more than 2000km.
It took him three weeks to reach Sydney and he did it without any support, sleeping rough along the roadside.
He has completed other marathon trips, including a trip from London to Athens, and estimates he has run 60,000km in the past 20 years.
He puts his stamina down to good genes and a love of walking and running.
But why? Well, that is another interesting story.
Hebel was born in the United States and says he was taunted as a child because of his Native American heritage.
"I'm part Indian and because they don't like Indians in America they would chase me home, but they could never catch me."
Hebel moved to Australia 45 years ago and in 1986 was diagnosed with Ross River fever.
He was told he was going to die, but greeted the news with spirited defiance.
"I told him it is not good enough. I don't feel like dying and I'll think I'll go running. I've done 60,000km since then, and he died of cancer 15 years ago."
He was also inspired by his friend, ultra-distance runner Ron Grant.
In 1983, Grant set off on a remarkable journey to run around Australia.
He completed his anticlockwise circumnavigation - a distance of 13,383km - in 217 days, averaging 61.67km.
Amazingly, Grant ran with a stress fracture in his leg from Perth and somehow found the strength to continue.
"I told him I'd beat him one day," Hebel said with a chuckle.
Not the laugh of a madman, but someone just a little crazy.
Perhaps crazy enough to run 20,000km in 500 days.
