Professor William Hayward, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Chair Professor of Psychology, Lingnan University

My name is Will Hayward, and I've lived in Hong Kong for about 25 years, but I'm originally from New Zealand. I'm a Professor of Psychology at Lingnan University, in Tuen Mun. I've spent my career working with students, helping them learn about the human mind (and human brain!), and why we do the things we do. As a psychologist, I'm very concerned about mental health. For all of us, our mental health is at least as important as our physical health. But while we find it relatively easy to talk about our symptoms if we have a cold, or a broken arm, it is not always easy to talk about our feelings when have depression, or an anxiety disorder. Often our struggles with mental health are seen as something we just go through by ourselves, rather than getting help with. It is very important for us all that we find ways to connect to others, and share our feelings about ourselves and any challenges to our mental health that we may experience.

I find running is a very effective way to deal with stress. There is clear psychological evidence that our moods are much more positive when we spend time in the organic curves of nature than if we are always surrounded by the straight lines of the urban environment. Running along the trails in Hong Kong's hills helped me get fit physically but it also helped me deal with all the mental challenges of modern life. As I got fitter, I started to run some races. I tried half-marathons (21.1km), and then full marathons (42.2km). In all these races I wasn't first and I wasn't last – like most people, I was somewhere in between. But I wasn' t really racing against other people – I was just racing against myself, to see if I could run the race faster than I did previously, to see if I could run a longer distance than I had before. Each time I completed the race, I felt a feeling of accomplishment and that I had successfully achieved a goal that I'd set for myself. And the only reason I'd been able to achieve the goal was because I had worked hard in training to make myself stronger.

Originally, I thought a marathon was the longest race you could do. Who would want to run more than 42km? But then I found out that there were events called “ultramarathons.” My first ultramarathon was a race called the Kepler Challenge in New Zealand. I was taking my young family back to visit relatives in New Zealand, and I decided to try the 60km race because it was in a beautiful national park and I thought that if I could run a 42km marathon then I could probably do a bit more for this race. It was spectacular – climbing high up a mountain and looking down on glacial lakes and across to snow-topped mountain chains, but after a few hours I got really tired and even started feeling a bit sick. My running speed dropped and I wasn' t going much faster than walking. When I got to the end I told my wife that I' d never run anything that long again! Little did I know it was only the beginning!

Over the next few years I forgot that I' d vowed never to run another ultramarathon, and instead I did more and more! I completed the famous Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker, which is 100km on the Maclehose Trail from Sai Kung to Tuen Mun, on two occasions. I ran 100km through the mountains of France, Italy, and Switzerland, and 100 miles (160km) in California, USA. The longer I ran, the harder it got, but the more I learned about myself. I learned that I was much more resilient than I had ever thought, and even when I felt completely exhausted, I could still get up, start walking, and eventually climb the tallest hill. I learned that while it is tempting to sit and relax, you only complete your journey by getting up from your chair and setting off again. I learned that I don't really care about winning but I do really care about failing – once I started a race I didn't want to let myself stop until I had got to the end, no matter how tired I was in the middle. I also learned that the longer you go, the more chance you have to see the incredible scenery of the place you are running through (France or California or Hong Kong).

Along the way I got involved in some really, really, really long challenges. During COVID-19, when everything in Hong Kong except the hiking trails were closed, some of us started to challenge ourselves by running 170km on Lantau Island over a weekend. This challenge, called the Nine Buffaloes, is one of the hardest things I' ve ever done, largely because it was just a personal challenge, not a race. The only people who knew we were out there were our close friends and family. When you got so tired that you couldn' t keep your eyes open, there was really no point in continuing unless you personally decided you wanted to finish. It was a good challenge to learn about how to find your own motivation for things you do.

Another race I tried was a “Backyard Ultramarathon.” As the name suggests, this is a really long race you do around your home. How does that work? You start the race (let's say at 9am) with other runners, and have one hour to run 6.7km around a course. If you're a fit runner, that probably isn't too difficult. When you finish, you have a rest, something to eat and drink, and wait until the hour is up. On the next hour (10am), you do the same thing again, on the same course. Then at 11am, the same again. The race continues, always running the same 6.7km loop, until there is only one person left. Everyone else must give up for the winner to win the race. I won this kind of race in Hong Kong by running for 25 hours (about 167km). Then I went to the USA and came second in the world championships, by running almost 400km over two-and-a-half days! No real sleep, no long rest, just running 6.7km every hour, day and night. In that race I wanted to give up but I had some friends who had driven hours to come and support me. I felt that I couldn't let them down by stopping, so I kept running. In this race I learned that sometimes we run for ourselves, and sometimes we run for other people.

The most difficult race I have tried is the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. There are four long trails in Hong Kong: the Maclehose Trail (100km), the Wilson Trail (78km), the Hong Kong Trail (50km), and the Lantau Trail (70km). In “Four Trails,” the aim is to do all of these trails in one go, which is 298km and so many hills that it is like climbing Mt Everest from sea-level to the summit, then going back down, then climbing back up to half-way. There was recently a documentary made about the event, which has been playing in Hong Kong cinemas. Audiences have been amazed at the crazy runners trying this massive challenge, but also at the beautiful landscapes that we are so lucky to have in our hometown. And at the end of the movie a very tired, old runner is shown struggling to get to the end of the challenge. That runner is me! Eventually I got there, one of the slowest runners to complete the challenge but very proud of myself for getting there at all. When you stand at the starting line for Four Trails it seems impossible to get to the end, but when you make it to the finish you know that even things that seem impossible can be overcome if you do the preparation and then just keep going and don't let yourself quit. This has given me a lot of confidence in other areas of my life. When something seems very difficult, I try to think about how I've achieved lots of difficult challenges from running, and so this problem can also be overcome.

What do you think? Are there challenges that you struggle to overcome? What kind of preparation can you do to give yourself the best chance of success? And what other hobbies or activities can you do to help train your resilience like this? You don't need to run crazy distances, but it is really helpful to have hobbies outside of school and work, like music, or sports, or creativity, to give you the chance to try something and see what happens without being too worried about failing. I hope you give yourself the opportunity to try this, and see what happens!

The article is translated into Chinese by Ms Muriel Ma, with the consent of Professor Hayward.

當心理學家穿上跑鞋

夏偉立教授 (Professor William Hayward) / 嶺南大學社會科學學院院長及心理學講座教授

我是威爾‧夏偉立（Will Hayward），來自紐西蘭，已在香港生活了二十五年。目前，我正擔任嶺南大學心理學教授，專注於與學生共同探索人類心智與大腦的奧秘，並剖析行為背後的深層原因。

作為心理學家，我特別關注心理健康議題。心理健康與生理健康同樣重要，然而當我們感冒或骨折時，描述症狀相對容易；相比之下，面對抑鬱或焦慮時，坦露內心感受卻往往困難重重。許多人誤以為心理問題必須要獨自承受，卻忽略了這正是需要尋求幫助的訊號。學會與他人建立連結，分享自己的感受與挑戰，對每個人都至關重要。

於我而言，跑步是紓解壓力的一大妙方。心理學研究顯示，置身於大自然的有機曲線環境中，遠比身處城市的直線建築更能提升積極情緒。在香港的山徑奔跑，不僅增強了我的體能，更幫助我克服現代生活的心理挑戰。隨着體能提升，我開始參加半馬拉松（21.1公里）和馬拉松（42.2公里）比賽。雖然我在比賽中的成績始終居中，但我的真正對手從來不是他人，而是自己：能否比上次跑得更快、更遠？每次衝線時的成就感都讓我確信，唯有透過持續訓練，才能突破自我極限，實現既定目標。

起初，我以為馬拉松已是跑步距離的極限—誰會想跑超過42公里呢？後來我發現了「超級馬拉松」。我的首場「超馬」是紐西蘭的凱普勒挑戰賽（Kepler Challenge）。當時，我趁着帶年幼的孩子回鄉探親，決定挑戰這條穿越壯麗的國家公園的60公里賽道。我天真地以為：既然能跑42公里，再多跑一點應該無妨。賽道風景的壯麗令人屏息—登高可俯瞰冰川湖泊，遠眺連綿雪峰。然而，幾小時後，疲憊與噁心湧上心頭，速度幾乎降至步行的水平。賽後，我向妻子發誓再也不參加如此長距離的比賽，卻沒想過這僅僅是個開始！

在隨後的幾年裡，我「忘記」了當初的誓言，接連完成了更具挑戰性的賽事：兩度征戰香港樂施會毅行者100公里麥理浩徑；穿越法、意、瑞三國山脈的100公里賽事；以及美國加州160公里的比賽。隨着距離愈長、難度愈大，我對自我認知也愈發深刻。我發現自己遠比想像中更堅韌 — 即使精疲力竭，仍能重新站起，最終翻越最高的山峰。我領悟到：休息雖然誘人，但唯有繼續前行，才能抵達終點；我也漸漸領悟到，自己並不在乎勝負，卻絕不輕言放棄 — 一旦啟程，無論多疲憊，我都決心堅持到底。無論是在法國、加州還是香港，每次挑戰距離愈長，看到的絕美風景也愈多。

在新冠肺炎疫情期間，香港幾乎所有場所都關閉，唯獨山徑依然開放。於是，我與跑友在週末發起了「九牛挑戰」（The Nine Buffaloes）— 一次性完成大嶼山170公里的穿越。這是我做過其中一件最艱難的事，因為它並非正式比賽，純屬挑戰自我。當困倦到幾乎無法睜開眼睛時，唯一能驅使我前進的，便是強大的意志力。這場挑戰教會了我如何尋找內在動力，完成看似不可能的任務。

除此之外，我還嘗試了另一種獨特的比賽形式 —「後院超馬」（Backyard Ultramarathon）。這項賽事只需繞圈完成指定距離，即每小時內要跑完6.7公里。若提前完成，可稍作休息，待下一小時重新出發，如此循環，直至只剩最後一名堅持者。我在香港的「後院超馬」，以25小時（約167公里）奪冠，後來赴美參加世錦賽，在兩天半內完成近400公里，獲得亞軍。在這段幾乎不眠不休的比賽中，每當我想放棄時，想到專程前來為我加油的朋友，我便咬緊牙關繼續堅持。這項比賽讓我明白：有時我們是為自己而跑，有時則為他人而跑。

迄今最艱鉅的挑戰是「香港四徑超級挑戰」，它要求連續穿越麥理浩徑（100公里）、衛奕信徑（78公里）、港島徑（50公里）和鳳凰徑（70公里），總長298公里，累計爬升高度相當於從海平面登頂珠穆朗瑪峰再折返半程。最近在戲院上映的紀錄片中，觀眾不僅驚嘆於跑者挑戰極限的毅力，還被香港的自然美景所震撼。影片尾聲，畫面定格在一位疲憊不堪卻堅持完賽的老跑者身上，那正是我！雖然速度最慢，但完賽的驕傲讓我深信：即使看似不可能的任務，只要充分準備並堅持到底，終能達成。這份信念也延伸至我生活的每一個領域 — 永不放棄。

你正在面對什麼挑戰？你會如何準備以提升成功的機率？哪些興趣或活動能鍛鍊你的意志與韌性？當然，你不必像我一樣參與瘋狂的長跑挑戰，但在課餘或工餘時間找到釋放壓力的方式，例如音樂、運動還是創作，只要全情投入、無懼失敗，同樣能培養你的抗逆能力。願你勇敢邁出第一步，靜待花開之時！

編者按︰本文章的原文為英語，並列載於《拓思》網上版。

中文版由馬鎮梅女士翻譯，並獲作者同意刊登。

賽道上