Falkirk

A good day began when I woke at 03:00 and realised that the men's 1500m final at the World Athletics Championships was on in 30 minutes. Regardless of the competitors, it's one of the iconic events, but I was particularly pleased to see Jake Wightman's unexpected win unfold before my eyes. I got back to sleep OK - after the 400m hurdles!

Django's first walk was dull, and afterwards I got back to work on a short article I'd been invited to write for a book on "More UK Success Stories in Industrial Mathematics". It was fun to do, as there's a good story to be told about our optimal food formulation case study.

At the end of the afternoon, the weather was clear and sunny - and rather cooler than yesterday - so I gave Django a quick walk before driving over to Bonnyrigg. There I watched what turned out to be a very entertaining Scottish League Cup match between Bonnyrigg Rose and Falkirk. Falkirk were dominant initially, and when they scored after 9 minutes (pictured) I was bracing myself for a dull evening. However, Bonnyrigg equalised with a penalty just before half time. In the second half both sides were looking to win the game, but chances were missed and it finished 1-1. Then, bizarrely, for a competition whose first stage has eight leagues of five, a penalty shoot-out took place. Falkirk won it 4-2, so they took 2 points from the game to Rose's 1. It was such a fine evening for watching outdoor sport, and the atmosphere in the ground was excellent.

Back home, I gave Django another brief walk, picking up the last two of the five Penicuik Turf zones that local amateur Turfer "BawsZoneFire" had taken from me earlier in the day.