Peter Hoffmann (runner)

Peter Hoffmann
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the United Kingdom
European Athletics Junior Championships

Peter Hoffmann (born 1 July 1 1956) is an Edinburgh diarist; author and international sportsman; he also undertakes some occasional journalism and advisory consultancy work.

Early life and education

Born in Edinburgh, Peter Hoffmann was brought up in Oxgangs, Edinburgh and educated at Hunters Tryst Primary School and Boroughmuir High School. His mother attended the University of Edinburgh in 1954, and his father was a chief officer in the merchant navy who trained at the Edinburgh shipping company, Ben Line Agencies. In 1976 Hoffmann began studying for a degree in English and sports science and recreation management at Loughborough University but decided to leave shortly after starting the course. He instead graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BA in Business Studies (1981) and Dunfermline College of Physical Education with a postgraduate Diploma Recreation and Leisure Practice (1983).

Career

For 25 years Hoffmann worked in the field of education, culture and sport in Midlothian and the Highlands, and for more than 10 years at chief officer level. He has written occasional articles for The Scotsman and Lothian Life, and advised international sportsmen on their training programmes and competition strategy.

He has written books on Edinburgh social history and sport. The Oxgangs Trilogy is a series of inter-related books: The Stair (2012); Oxgangs – A Pastime from Time Past (2018) and Paradise Lost (2019). The Hermes Quartet – the god of speed - is a tetralogy of athletics based books by Hoffmann published between 2017 and 2020. The quartet includes A Life In A Day In A Year A Postcard From Meadowbank 1973-1978 (2017); A Practical Philosophy of 800 Metres Running Festina Lente (2018); The True Confessions Of Retep Nnamffoh: School's Out For Ever, A 1973 Edinburgh Young Athlete's Diary (2018) and The Way We Were (2020). The Peripatetic Philosopher Trilogy is a coming of age series of books based on his Letts' Schoolboy diaries for the years 1971 and 1972 and a further 1973 desk journal. The trilogy consists of The Secret Diary of Retep Nnamffoh aged Fourteen and a Half! (2016); The Growing Pains Of Retep Nnamffoh Aged 15 And A Half (2018) and The True Confessions Of Retep Nnamffoh (2018). The third volume is a mix of athletics and social history recording the journey of a 16 year old boy progressing from beginner to Scottish Youth 400 metres champion set within the culture of early 1970s Edinburgh.

He is also the author of several social history books on 1960s Edinburgh including Oxgangs A Capital Story (The Stair) about growing up in the 1960s in the Edinburgh south suburb of Oxgangs.

Hoffmann has kept diaries and journals for almost half a century and is currently working on an ambitious project, the 700k plus words The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys - A Town Dweller's Journal telling the story of an ordinary Edinburgh family over a quarter of a century between the years 1971 and 1996. It is based on extracts from the author’s diaries and journals and paints a picture of an earlier Edinburgh and the ordinary social and cultural life of one local family. He plans to release twelve volumes, one for each month of the year.

Sporting career

Hoffmann represented Great Britain at the 1975 European Junior Championships winning the silver medal in the 400 metres. He was a member of the British Olympic 4 x 400 metres relay squad at Montreal, 1976. In 1978 he represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in the 800 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay. He had an unusually wide range winning the Scottish 50 metres indoor sprint as well as the British (AAA) 800 metres. Between 1973 and 1978 Hoffmann won 10 Scottish titles at Youth, Junior and Senior level; broke the Scottish Native 400 metres record on 3 occasions and won 7 AAAs medals at 200, 400 and 800 metres. He partnered Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett as the UK's third representative at the 1978 European Athletics Championships Men's 800 metres in Prague. In 2016 he represented Scotland at the 4 Nations Home Fencing Veterans’ International at epee.

Personal life

He lives in Jamestown, Strathpeffer in the Highlands and is married to Alison. They have two sons, Will and Tom; the latter is an international epeeist and was part of the successful Scotland team which won the bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Fencing Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Fencing Championships. With the closure of Meadowbank Stadium Hoffmann founded the Memory Hold The Door-Meadowbank Sports Centre legacy project allowing people from throughout the world to record their memories, stories, experiences, photographs and other memorabilia of the facility. In 2018 he also launched a similar project Oxgangs - A Pastime From Time Past - Spirits Across The Air which has been edited into the first volume of a projected small series. His hobbies include literature, painting, fencing and exercising. Hoffmann made a cameo appearance in the film Chariots Of Fire in the scene featuring the Scotland v Ireland international.

Books

2012: The Stair An Oxgangs Edinburgh Childhood 1958-1972: Summer Has Gone ISBN 978-1494874131
2016: The Secret Diary of Retep Nnamffoh aged Fourteen and a Half!: An Edinburgh Schoolboy's 1971 Diary ISBN 978-1977723895
2016: A 1960s Edinburgh Christmas ISBN 978-1539997450
2017: In The Season Of The Year: A Celebration Of 1960s Edinburgh ISBN 978-1976318597
2017: A Life In A Day In A Year: A Postcard From Meadowbank 1973-1978 ISBN 978-1973962663
2018: A 1972 Edinburgh Teenager's Diary: The Growing Pains Of Retep Nnamffoh Aged 15 And A Half ISBN 978-1985709850
2018: A Practical Philosophy of 800 Metres Running: Festina Lente ISBN 978-1986928793
2018: The True Confessions Of Retep Nnamffoh: School's Out For Ever, A 1973 Edinburgh Young Athlete's Diary ISBN 978-1719599085
2018: Oxgangs - A Pastime From Time Past: Spirits Across The Air ISBN 978-1725718630
2019: The Peripatetic Philosopher - An Edinburgh Teenager's Diary 1971-1973 ISBN 978-1688026629
2019: Paradise Lost - The Edinburgh Oxgangs School Summer Holidays 1958-1972 ISBN 978-1089483045
2019: The Christmas Chronicles - An Edinburgh Diary 1971-1996 ISBN 978-1703630299
2020: The Way We Were ISBN 979-8614974961
2020: OXGANGS A Capital Story ISBN 979-8654412072
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal January ISBN 979-8664069679
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal February ISBN 979-8664089462
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal March ISBN 979-8664290110
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal April ISBN 979-8664310191
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal May ISBN 979-8664336207
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal June ISBN 979-8664386998
2020: The Edinburgh Samuel Pepys A Town Dweller's Journal July ISBN 979-8672250045

References