Jesse Stevick, who has won 10 of the past 12 Capital City Marathons, will pace this year

Competitors and supporters will still see Capital City Marathon phenom Jesse Stevick on the course in Olympia this weekend for the 37th running of the annual race — but it will be in a different role.

Stevick, a 36-year-old Olympia native, will cross the finish line Sunday morning a bit later than usual, as a pacer for the three-hour group.

This is the first time Stevick, who has won the men's division of 10 of the past 12 marathons, will run as a pacer.

"The prospect of it is kind of fun," Stevick said. "Racing it, you don't really get to enjoy the crowd, and the people along the way, and the water stops."

Stevick ran the Eugene Marathon in Oregon three weeks ago, and said the time between the two races was not enough for his body to rebound.

"Doing two within a month, I have not had great luck with being able to recover," he said. "This year, I wanted to try to run that course. It's a faster, flatter course, and there's some good competition down there.

"But I still wanted to be a part of the Capital City race. I'm excited about helping people reach that goal and just enjoy it."

Stevick said he plans to return to racing his home marathon in future years.

He won six consecutive races between 2011-16, and his best time came in 2007 at 2:31:50.

This story was originally published May 19, 2018 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Jesse Stevick, who has won 10 of the past 12 Capital City Marathons, will pace this year."