Apolo Ohno, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all-time, has decided to run the New York City Marathon this fall.

The marathon will be the latest challenge to Ohno who is in intense athletic shape but is not used to endurance competing for longer than a couple of minutes at a time. Most of his speed skating races last anywhere from 40 seconds to just over a couple of minutes.

Subway’s mega-spokesman Jared Fogle (the guy that lost 9 billion pounds and is forever their spokesman) persuaded Ohno into accepting his challenge. Jared asked several other Subway endorsers, but Ohno was the only celeb to say “yes!”

Apolo realizes it will be difficult and much different than the races on ice that he is accustomed to.

“I’m not going to jump out of the starting gates like I’m doing the 500 (meters),” he said. “People will say, ‘Apolo’s looking amazing … now he’s going to the port-a-potty. What’s going on?’ So I do have to change my mentality. I’m going to have to break it up in segments.”

Ohno is a fierce competitor having not only won eight Olympic medals but also the Dancing With the Stars title back in 2007 (with dancing professional Julianne Hough).  So expect Apolo to train hard, run even harder than most expect, and surprise many onlookers and fans at the NYC Marathon.

Ohno has yet to decide if he will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

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