16 Miles in "Flurries" = a PR?

The Derry Boston Prep 16-miler was today. The weather forecast said light flurries on and off throughout the day.

I got up this AM at 7 (with DD) and once again the weather folks were off a bit. We already had 3" on the ground and there didn't seem to be any let up.

One of my running friends came to my house @ 830 to ride and pick up Scoot (another friend) to head to Derry - all seemed good. Until they said it was a 10 AM start. I had it in my mind that it was an 11AM start. Oops.
We couldn't drive any faster - the road sucked and were really greasy. The way over to the start we were debating if the race was going to be held or not. We ended up calling the race director's phone...and sure enough, the roads were 'safe' to run on.

Long story short, we got there, stretched out - sort of, on a wet gymnasium floor, changed, did our 'bizness' and headed to the start. Oh, and it was still snowing. The roads were all covered in snow - about an inch or two. The plow guys seemed to have slept in this morning. Everyone was saying a dusting, and that's what we got. It's just when you're tackling 16 miles, and hilly miles at that, even a dusting can be super treacherous.
My plan was to push myself and shoot for a PR. I thought the conditions were going to throw a wrench in the middle of it all.

We made our way to the start line and started to worm closer to the front - I only got ~70 yards from the front and we all started moving - had no idea the race was starting. Chaos...my brain was going nuts, not knowing what/how I wanted to run the race.

The first mile was way too crowded...too many people on a small 1 1/2 lane country road, slogging through the snow. I started w/Scoot (he just ran Disney 3 weeks prior in 4:00) and found our other friend ~ mile 1. My goals were different than theirs. We ran mile 1 in 9:42 - ouch.
The road 'opened' up a little around 1 1/2 miles - the snow had been pretty well pulverized into slush, so I tried my best to find openings and put some of the masses of people behind me.

I felt okay to start. I cranked up the pace to below 8 mpm (not really intending to run that fast, but it was mostly downhill) and held onto a quick pace for a bit. My pace was all over the place b/c we had a single track through the snow on the road so you were sort of locked into the pace of the person in front of you. To pass meant you had to wait for another track to open up or brave the 2" of packed/unpacked snow that had accumulated.

This race has a really nasty elevation profile - constantly going up and down. I get more nervous for this race than I do all others. The conditions, as witnessed today can really throw any strategy or goal for a real loop.

My splits - as best I could manage:
Mile 1: 9:43 (~40 seconds from start line - crowded start)
Mile 2: 7:39
Mile 3: 7:23
Mile 4: 7:38
Mile 5: 8:48 (hit my lap button late)
Mile 6: 7:35
Mile 7: 7:56
Mile 8: 7:49
Mile 9: 8:11 (avg, 16:22 X 2 miles)
Mile 10: 8:11 (avg, 16:22 X 2 miles)
Mile 11: 8:43
Mile 12: 8:44
Mile 13: 8:29
Mile 14: 7:41
Mile 15: 8:11
Mile 16: 7:23
Total: 2:10:12 (watch), 2:10:35 (clock time)
I hit my watch well before I hit the start line...so I think I lost close to a minute. It was a chip timed race, giving splits at the 5m, 10m, 1/2 mara and finish....but not a chip timed start.

I hit a 2 minute PR. Even in those conditions. I felt strong on the hills, slow but strong. And I was able to really turn out a good kick on miles 14 and 16. I started to bonk on mile 15 but the Swedish Fish saved the day.

One last note.
I never tried Gu on a long run...until today. On a whim.

I think I'm going to live by those little buggers from now on. I took a lemon-lime at mile 8 and felt completely buzzed from mile 9 to 13. My legs were super energized for the hills and I had energy. I think I'm going to add Gu to my marathon repertoire from now on.

Pretty psyched, but I know I could have shaved off a few more minutes - getting rid of the slow start and pushing myself in a few other areas of the race could have led to some Clydesdale Hardware.
Live for another day I guess.
Next up...the 1/2 at Hampton in 2 weeks. A new 1/2 marathon. Going to be a SLEAZY 13.1 miles for sure.