Suffolk athlete Ben Peck has soared to the top of the UK rankings, following a blistering run in Tuesday night’s 3,000m at Woodford Green.

Brandon-based Peck knocked a massive 19 seconds off his personal best time, recording a swift 9mins 09.52secs to become the highest ranked under-15 boy in the country, over the 3K distance.

It was a cracking effort by Peck, a member of Thetford AC and a pupil at Mildenhall College Academy, especially as he is in the bottom end of his age group, having only celebrated his 13th birthday last month.

"I ran quicker than I expected," said Peck.

"I had run 9:28.33 at the South of England Championships, but although I won gold at that event, I thought that I could run a lot faster.

"Woodford Green was an open graded meeting, so there were all ages in each race. I tucked behind a couple of older athletes and then stepped it up with 600 metres to go.

"I went through the bell in exactly 8:00, so I knew I was on for a good time," added Peck.

His time is two seconds quicker than the next best, in his under-15 age group.