Pilkington runs like his father

In track and field circles, if people don't recognize the name, they recognize the running style and the face. Seth Pilkington looks and runs like his father, Paul, a former national-class marathoner and professional road racer.

"People tell me I run just like him," says Seth.

But there is one difference between them, and that difference was very much on display at last weekend's NCAA Track and Field championships in Sacramento.

"He has a lot more speed," Paul notes dryly. "If I had had that kind of speed I wouldn't have had to run the marathon."

With one lap to go in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA championships, Pilkington, a Weber State sophomore by way of Roy High, University of Oregon and University of Illinois, began a sizzling kick. Covering the final lap in 58.7 seconds, he passed two rivals and placed fourth with a superb time of 28:48.17. He was the top American finisher, finishing behind a Canadian, an Irishman and a Kenyan.

Observing this was Ed Eyestone, a two-time Olympic marathoner who now coaches at BYU. He is a good friend and former training partner of Paul Pilkington's, and he has watched Seth's development since he was a boy.

"I think we've all known for some time that Seth is a national-caliber talent," said Eyestone. "But seeing him close that last lap, he might be even better than we all thought. He can be great."

No one who saw Pilkington run for Roy High School will be surprised. He won two state titles as a junior and again as a senior in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. He still owns the fastest time ever run by a Utah prep on Utah soil for the 1,600 (4:11.38) and the second fastest 3,200 (9:11.77).

He was coached by his father from the beginning. Paul, an All-American steeplechaser at Weber State, was a professional road racer for more than 15 years, five of them on a full-time basis (he taught high school and junior high school English and history). In 1994, Paul won the USA Track and Field marathon national championship. He made national headlines later that year when he was hired to rabbit (pace) the L.A. Marathon and wound up winning the race in a hilarious, almost-unprecedented turn of events. A year later he represented the U.S. in the marathon at the World Championships.

When Seth was six years old, he asked his parents to enter him in a children's road race and won. He asked his parents if he could run other races, but Paul put him off, telling him he couldn't run competitively until he was in an organized school program — read: high school.