Winter Games Olympian Erin Hamlin is running the New York City Marathon, her first ever Marathon

Erin Hamlin may have retired following her fourth Olympic appearance earlier this year, but she isn’t done competing by any means. Hamlin announced on Wednesday that she will run in the New York City Marathon in November, her first marathon ever, on behalf of the Women’s Sports Foundation. “Being challenged in sport is something I am very familiar with,” Hamlin wrote in an email on Wednesday. “Long distance running is something I most certainly am not!! It will be difficult, mentally and physically daunting, but a way to test my abilities in a sport so far out of my comfort zone. So naturally I am pretty excited.” Hamlin carried the flag for Team USA at the Opening Ceremony at the Olympics in February in PyeongChang, South Korea, and became the first American to medal in a single luge competition when she won the bronze medal in 2014. The 31-year-old took sixth in South Korea, and finished seventh overall last season in the World Cup standings. Hamlin said she hopes to raise more than $8,000 for the Women’s Sports Foundation before the marathon, which was founded by Billie Jean King in 1974.

posted Thursday July 19th