Well, I'm back . . . gonna be feeling this for a few days. I can't move. The first half the course was uphill, a shallow upward grade. There was also a heavy head wind, 25mph according to the race MC and his laptop/WiFi. I ran steadily for the first half, skipping all the water stations. After the turn around at about 9.3mi, I began stopping and walking, being sure to hit every station for some Gatorade.
My gun time was around 2:53:00, chip times haven't been uploaded yet.
Edit - Forgot to mention, the shirt was nice. Festive red with Christmassy borders.
I've got quite a nice collection of shirts now.