⏵ Course guide · Texas night trail race
Trail Racing Over Texas throws its nighttime party race at Stephen F. Austin State Park, a marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K on a shared loop, all run after the sun goes down. I will walk you through the loop and the night-race format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for running by headlamp, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Trail Racing Over Texas race page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and mandatory gear requirements before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Every distance builds off the same "red then blue" loop, just over 5K per lap, on wide gravel and dirt trails through Stephen F. Austin State Park. The marathon repeats it 8 times, the half marathon 4, the 10K 2, and the 5K once.
The marathon's first two loops and the half marathon's first loop include an extra green section, the Barred Owl Trail, that later loops skip. That means your early laps on the longer distances run slightly farther than your later ones, worth knowing so a fading pace on lap 3 or 4 does not confuse you into thinking something is wrong with your legs.
Every runner needs both a light and a hydration device as mandatory gear, no exceptions. The course itself is marked with reflectors and ribbons for nighttime visibility, but that supplements your own light rather than replacing it, especially for the marathon field still moving in the pre-dawn hours. The race is cupless, so bring your own bottle or flask.
The group dining hall area hosts the single fully stocked aid station at the start/finish/lap line, with hot food available overnight (grilled cheese, quesadillas, soup, ramen, coffee, and hot chocolate). A second, unmanned water refill point sits at the halfway road crossing on each loop. You do not pass back through the main aid station after finishing the blue loop, so plan your carrying capacity around that one gap.
The marathon's 8 hour window (6:00 PM start, 2:00 AM close) is generous for the terrain, but reduced visibility and the unfamiliarity of running the same loop in full darkness both slow most runners more than they expect.
A grade-adjusted pace target still helps you account for the few quick elevation changes on course, but build in extra margin beyond that for the simple fact of running by headlamp: depth perception and footing confidence both take a hit after dark, even on wide, non-technical trail.
Because the marathon starts at 6:00 PM, your first loop or two will run through dusk before full darkness sets in. Use that transition to calibrate your true night pace, then build a vert-aware finish prediction off your actual splits rather than assuming daytime fitness translates directly to a nighttime loop.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A 6:00 PM start means you begin your marathon warm, in the tail end of a September afternoon, and finish, if you are out for the full 8 hours, in the cool early-morning hours.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the marathon and half marathon. With only one main aid station and one unmanned refill per loop, plan what you carry between those two points rather than assuming frequent resupply.
Sodium toward the higher end of 500 to 700 mg per liter makes sense for the warm early loops, tapering toward 300 to 500 mg per liter as the night cools and your sweat rate likely drops. Hot food at the aid station overnight, soup, ramen, and hot chocolate, is also a good way to bring in both calories and warmth during the coldest pre-dawn hours.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight and an evening-into-overnight race 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 nighttime loop course. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for evening-into-overnight racing, and rehearses your fueling so race night is something you execute, not guess at.
The terrain itself is approachable, wide gravel and dirt trails with only a few quick elevation changes, so this is not a technical or mountainous race. What makes it hard is running it after dark: the marathon starts at 6:00 PM and can run past 2:00 AM, so you are navigating by headlamp for most, if not all, of the distance, on a course you likely have not seen in daylight. Fatigue and reduced visibility, not the trail itself, are the real test.
Every distance shares the same base loop, a "red then blue" route totaling just over 5K, run by park roads and reflective, marked singletrack. The marathon runs 8 loops, the half marathon 4, the 10K 2, and the 5K 1. On top of that, the marathon adds a green "Barred Owl Trail" extension for its first two loops, and the half marathon adds it for just the first loop, so the early laps of the longer distances run slightly further than the later ones.
A light and a hydration device are both mandatory equipment for every runner, no exceptions. The course is marked with reflectors and ribbons for nighttime visibility, but you still need your own reliable light source, plus a backup is a smart idea for the marathon given how many hours you could be out there. The race is cupless, so you must carry your own bottle or flask, and there is only one unmanned water refill point at the halfway road crossing beyond the main aid station.
Mid-September evenings in San Felipe can still be warm at the 6:00 PM start, cooling off through the night as the marathon field works into the early morning hours. 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, adjusting down as the night cools. The main aid station at the start/finish is fully stocked, including hot food overnight like soup and ramen, and there is one unmanned water refill at the road crossing halfway through each loop.
Every distance shares the same final cutoff: 2:00 AM. Since the marathon starts at 6:00 PM, that gives an 8 hour window; the half marathon starts at 7:00 PM for a 7 hour window; the 10K at 7:30 PM for 6.5 hours; and the 5K at 8:00 PM for 6 hours. These are generous windows for the mostly flat terrain, built to account for the slower pace most runners hold at night.
Yes, it is a solid, low-technicality entry into night trail racing. Wide gravel and dirt trails, reflective course marking, a shared loop that brings you back through the start/finish area often, and generous cutoffs all reduce the risk that comes with running unfamiliar terrain in the dark. The main adjustment for first-timers is purely mental and logistical: practice running with your headlamp beforehand, and treat the light and hydration requirements as genuinely mandatory, not optional extras.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/night-moves-trail-races">The Night Moves Trail Races course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and mandatory gear requirements 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.