HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL SERVICE ATHLETICS CLUB (NICSAC)
Early Days
The Northern Ireland Civil Service Athletics Club (NICSAC) began its life in 1957 as part of the post war return to normal which highlighted the rise of sport on the return of men and women from war time service. The early club was focused on athletics track events and its membership located largely on the Stormont Estate. At one stage it made a bid for a ‘cinder track’ on the estate but was turned down. It never seemed to recover and despite a good start in terms of numbers, it went into decline as the end of the decade approached and was eventually wound up in 1961.
Current Club Beginning
In 1995 Ray Murray approached the NI Civil Service Sports Association (NICSSA), the parent body for all Civil Service sporting organisations, to establish if support and funding could be obtained to establish an Athletics club to promote running for civil servants. This was on the back of the re-emergence of distance running and the Belfast Marathon (1982) in Northern Ireland. NICSSA was very supportive and a constitution was drawn up in 1995 with a small group of ‘running friends’ – Michael Kelly, Joe Quinn, Ray Murray and Tom Watson making up the first committee. On 4th October 1995 the club was accepted for affiliation to NICSSA and on 28th November 1995 it was accepted for affiliation to the Northern Ireland Amateur Athletics Federation – now known as Athletics NI. The committee approved the club colours (white vest with yellow and blue side bands and blue shorts) as well as the club logo. The first club AGM was held in December that year and in the early years the club membership stood at about 80 civil servants drawn from all over Northern Ireland and from all departments.
From early on it was clear that the club was going to focus on road and cross country running. In 1996 it was decided that the club should organize a Cross Country event on the Stormont Estate. This was to be the ‘flagship’ event for the NICSAC and advertise it amongst the other running clubs in Northern Ireland. The event was a senior event, open to all, but contained a civil service championships as well. This was the first time that the Stormont estate had been used for a cross country race and the event has been held annually ever since, with the exception of 1999. The success of the Civil Service cross country opened up the estate as an important venue for athletics and in 1999 it played host to the Belfast International Cross Country (part of the IAAF World Cross Challenge tour).
Before the club was formed a number of individuals had taken part in England in the UK Civil Service Marathon Championships. These included Sammy Walker, Tom Watson, Erwin Cameron and Jim Patterson.
In 1994, for the first time, a NICS Marathon Team of NICSAC members; Jim Breen, Joe Quinn and Ray Murray took fourth place and just missed out on the medals in the Armed Forces and Civil Services Marathon Championships in Lincoln. Given the team averaged sub three hours this was a significant achievement for their first effort at such a major event. They were back the following year in Nottingham and took silver medals. This was followed by a haul of Golds and Bronze medals along with a few near misses as the event alternated between London and Nottingham in subsequent years.
Individual successes at the UK Civil Services Championships were also recorded most notably by Jim Breen. Over the years new team members such as John O’Hagan, Neil Corken, Barry Lowry, Marcus McAuley and Roy Nash joined the team and all were key to continuing successes in different years. A number of local successes were achieved with club members bringing in wins as well as age category victories in local events. Likewise the introduction of the Belfast Marathon Relay saw NICSAC teams feature in the top dozen places.
Internal Recognition
The NI Civil Service Athletics Club’s achievements during the 1990s and early 2000s can be seen in that it had four members nominated over a number of years for the Bloomfield Trophy at that time. The Bloomfield trophy is the highest award the NI Civil Service gives for either Success in Chosen Sport or Success in Administration of Sport. In that era; Jim Breen, Joe Quinn, Robbie Burrows and Ray Murray were all nominated with Ray winning, for Success in Chosen Sport, in 1999?. In addition the club also won the NICS Sports Association best team of the year for its marathon exploits in GB. Recognition continues with this now been added to by Michael Kelly being nominated and winning the 2010 Bloomfield Trophy for Success in Sports Administration. This was repeated a couple of years later when Robbie Burrows also won the Bloomfield Award for Sports Administration for 2013. Tracey Atkinson was awarded the Janet Coleman Health and Well being award at the NICSSA award ceremony in 2019. NICSAC was awarded Team of the Year at the same award ceremony in 2019.
Events History
As well as the Stormont Cross Country the club, in conjunction with East Down AC, resurrected the Portaferry 10 Mile Road Race as part of the Portaferry Gala Festival in 2005. The East Down AC link is through Joe Quinn a founding member and one of the early stalwarts of NICSAC who is also the driving force behind East Down.
The club has established internal competitions for club members which include 5 Mile, 10km, 10 Mile, Half Marathon, Marathon championships and a 5km Handicap. A Competition Series event was introduced in 2013 in which members can accrue points for competing in the championships events. In 2016 an age graded event based on parkrun was introduced.
In 2010 the club also helped to establish the Greyabbey 10K and 5K fun run which attracted over 200 participants and raised funds for the charity Helping Alopecia Trust (HAT). This event is now discontinued.
Trips Abroad
Since its foundation the club has seen trips organized and members taking part in: Berlin, Athens, Rotterdam, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Vienna, Budapest, Modena, Lake Garda, Verona and Palma.
