~26 miles @ ~12 min/mi

Dip fingers into Lake Needwood at the halfway point, thinking of the Taiji "Pick Up Needle from Sea Floor" form ... slip on muddy patch and do a near Face Plant at mile 23, but reassure concerned witness, "No worries, Ma'am; it's the first fall of the day!" as wet dirt hardens into an instant poultice for the scraped arm and knees ... tag along for a mile with Alyssa Soumoff, Terri Scadron, and Toby McGinn near KenGar as they finish their trek ... count 4 bunnies and 8 deer total on a solo "Mad Dog Zimmarathon" that this year falls on a pleasantly cool Sunday.

Photos: curvy shadows at mile 9 lead the way to the Rock Creek Trail bridge over Veirs Mill Rd; found sunglasses protect the eyes while lying down for a selfie on the trail mosaic at the other end of the bridge at mile 17 on the return trip.

Garmin and Runkeeper GPS tracks concur to within 2%. Compare with previous runs on roughly the same route 2004-08-29 - Mad Dog Zimmarathon, 2006-10-28 - Mad Dog Zimmarathon Plus, 2007-08-18 - Mad Dog Zimmarathon 2007, 2011-07-16 - Mad Dog Zimmarathon 2011, ...

^z - 2014-06-13