Cameron McKie struck gold at the Eastern Athletics Combined Events Championships, held at a sun-blessed Peterborough on Sunday.

Specialist middle distance runner McKie was well adrift going into the final event of his under-17 men’s pentathlon competition, but fortunately that final discipline happened to be his favourite 1,500m.

McKie, one of five members of West Suffolk AC to compete in this age group, knew that he had to win his 1,500m by more than a minute to take gold.

But he made short work of it, clocking a superb 4mins 20secs to finish a remarkable 72 seconds ahead of his closest rival for the title. McKie’s time earned him a massive 810 points, so ensuring that he won the Eastern title and also the Suffolk crown.

It put the finishing touches to a fine season for McKie. The 16-year-old had ducked under two minutes for the first time over 800m at the English Schools Championships, clocking 1:59.47.

Earlier in the day, McKie had recorded 5.21m in the long jump, 34.44m in the javelin, 25.25secs over 200m and 17.82m in the discus.

Club-mates Mark Smith, a specialist thrower, and talented sprinter Kyle Potter, were second and third respectively in the Suffolk competition to McKie, while fellow West Suffolk athletes James Curran and Harry Unwin were also in action in this age group.

Elsewhere, the West Suffolk duo of Freya Webb and Peggy-Mai Norman were first and second (Suffolk section) of the under-17 women’s pentathlon.

David Bush, a member of Nene Valley Harriers, was second Eastern athlete in the senior men’s class, and first Suffolk.

Chris Jones, of Ipswich Harriers, also impressed in the under-15 age group, finishing third in the Eastern event and first Suffolk.

Jones clocked 13.54secs in the hurdles, achieved 5.11m in the shot and leapt to 4.69m in the long jump.

He also cleared 1.71m in the high jump and completed his final 800m in 2:24.