⏵ Course guide · Lake Travis trail race
Mellow Trail Race sends its marathon field around a 13.1 mile loop on the Pace Bend Park peninsula, twisting across rocks and roots with Lake Travis on both sides and a finish line close enough to jump in the water after. I will walk you through the loop first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan for a technical but runnable course, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Tejas Trails race page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
The main loop is 13.1 miles with a 5K shortcut. The half marathon runs the full loop once, the marathon runs it twice, and the 10K runs the 5K shortcut twice.
The Pace Bend Park trail system flows constantly up and down across rocks, roots, and hard-packed trail on a peninsula jutting into Lake Travis. One side of the peninsula has zero-entry shores, the other has rocky cliff-edge shores, and the trail gains enough elevation at points to see out over the lake. It is technical enough to demand real attention but never turns into a mountain climb.
The finish arch sits as close to the edge of Lake Travis as Tejas Trails can get it, so the moment you cross the line you can head straight into the water to cool off. That is also why the race calls its distances "ish": as the lake rises and falls through the year, the exact route length can shift slightly from edition to edition.
The Lake A.S. (start/finish) and Jack A.S. carry a full spread of sweet and salty food, fruit, sodas, and electrolyte drink. Road A.S. and Gate A.S. carry water, Tailwind, and ice at minimum, enough for the shorter 4 and 8 mile distances but leaner than the two main stations. Runners doing the 8 mile-plus distances need to be ready to carry water for a stretch of hot, exposed granite on course.
The marathon's 9 hour window from a 7:00 AM start is generous for the terrain, but the constant rock and root footing means flat road pace will not translate directly here.
The loop rarely climbs hard, but the twisty rock-and-root footing costs time in a way a simple elevation chart will not show. A grade-adjusted pace target gives you a more honest number for what you can actually hold across two full laps of this terrain.
Because the final lap cutoff is 11:30 AM, marathon runners want a clear read on their pace by the end of loop one. A vert-aware finish prediction built off your real first-loop split will tell you honestly whether you have room to ease off or need to pick it up before starting loop two.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
Mid-September in Central Texas can still run genuinely hot, especially through the exposed granite sections of the course, so plan your hydration and sodium with real margin.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the marathon and half marathon. Lake A.S. and Jack A.S. carry a full spread, while Road A.S. and Gate A.S. only guarantee water, Tailwind, and ice, so plan your own carried fuel around that gap rather than assuming every stop has snacks.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most runners here, leaning higher if the day turns hot. The race specifically calls out a stretch of hot, exposed granite for the 8 mile-plus distances where you need to carry your own water, so treat that section as a mini self-supported leg rather than assuming aid is always close.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight and a warm Central Texas day with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness and this exact rocky, rolling lake-loop course. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for technical repeated terrain, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
True to its name, this is one of the more relaxed trail marathons on the Tejas Trails calendar, but do not mistake mellow for easy. The 13.1 mile loop at Pace Bend Park constantly flows up and down across rocks, roots, and hard-packed trail on a peninsula jutting into Lake Travis, and the marathon runs it twice. There is no single defining climb, just steady technical footing and a finish line close enough to the water that you can jump in right after.
The main loop is 13.1 miles with a 5K shortcut cut into it. The marathon runs the full loop twice, and the 10K runs two laps of the 5K shortcut. Pace Bend Park sits on a peninsula into Lake Travis, with zero-entry shores on one side and rocky cliff-edge shores on the other. Expect twisty trail flowing across rocks and roots, with occasional views out over the lake from the higher points on the loop.
A September morning in Central Texas can still run warm, and the race notes that runners doing the 8 mile-plus distances need to carry water through a hot, exposed granite section on course. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the marathon and half marathon, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range depending on the heat. The main "LAKE A.S." and "JACK A.S." stations are fully stocked with sweet and salty food, sodas, and electrolyte drink, while "ROAD A.S." and "GATE A.S." carry water and Tailwind at minimum, so plan your carrying capacity around which stations you will actually hit.
The final lap cutoff is 11:30 AM, meaning you need to be starting your last lap by then, and the course closes completely at 4:00 PM. With the marathon starting at 7:00 AM, that gives you 9 hours total, which is generous for a course this runnable as long as you respect the final lap cutoff along the way.
Pace Bend Park sits right on Lake Travis, and the finish line arch gets placed as close to the water as possible so runners can cool off after the race. Because the lake level rises and falls throughout the year, the exact route length can shift slightly from one edition to the next, and Tejas Trails is upfront about that rather than promising an exact certified distance every year.
Yes. The rolling, non-mountainous terrain, the generous 9 hour window, and the repeated loop format (which keeps you close to aid and your own supplies) make this a solid entry point into trail marathoning. The rocky and rooted sections do demand real trail-running attention, so build in technical-footing practice before race day rather than showing up on road-marathon fitness alone.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/mellow-trail-race">The Mellow Trail Race course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.