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⏵ Course guide · Texas ultra

Wild Hare Trail Race Course Guide

Wild Hare is the Tejas Trails fan favorite at Bluff Creek Ranch in Central Texas, a fun, flowy 7.8-mile loop that you run two, four, or six times depending on whether you signed up for the 25K, the 50K, or the 50 mile. It is one of the most beginner-friendly ultras around, but friendly does not mean easy, and the runnable terrain has its own way of biting people. I will walk you through the loop first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for repeating it. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Wild Hare Trail Race quick facts

Date
Saturday, November 14, 2026 (mid-November weekend)
Location
Bluff Creek Ranch, Warda, TX, in Central Texas between Austin and Houston
Distances
50 mile, 50K, 25K, 10K, and a youth 1 mile, all on a 7.8-mile loop
Elevation gain
Rolling and modest, roughly 325 ft of gain per 7.8-mile loop
Starts
50 mile 6:30 AM · 50K 7:30 AM · 25K 7:45 AM · 10K 8:00 AM
Cutoff
Must be on your final lap by 7:00 PM · course closes 9:30 PM
Aid stations
Two per loop (start/finish plus a midway around 3.5 mi)
Qualifier
No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier status listed by the race

These facts come from the official race site and public listings. Check the current date, start times, cutoffs, and loop details in the race-day info before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where Wild Hare is won and lost

Everything runs on one 7.8-mile loop at Bluff Creek Ranch. The 50 mile does a modified first lap of about 11 miles and then five more full loops, the 50K is four loops, the 25K is two, and the 10K is a single loop with a shortcut. There are two aid stations on the loop, the start/finish and a midway around 3.5 miles in, so you are never far from help or your drop bag.

The loop: flowy, twisty, and deceptively quick

The loop is a mountain-bike-style rollercoaster, lots of tight twists and turns through the trees, broken up by fast, open field sections where you can really move. It is genuinely fun to run, and that is the trap. Terrain this flowy makes your early laps feel easy and your legs feel great, and the temptation to bank time is strong. Do not. The day is won by the person who runs the first two loops slower than they want to.

The climbs are small. You roll over the bluffs with only modest ups and downs, on the order of 325 feet of gain per lap, so there is no big hill to force you to slow down and check your effort. That sounds like a gift, and it is, but it also means nothing on the course protects you from your own pace. You have to impose the discipline yourself.

The repeating laps: this race is mental

The hardest part of Wild Hare is not physical, it is the head game of running the same 7.8-mile loop over and over. The first loop is a thrill, the second is fine, and somewhere around the fourth or fifth the sameness starts to wear on you. The runners who do well here break the race into laps and treat each one as its own little event with its own job: cruise this one, fuel hard on this one, grind through the low patch on this one.

Use the start/finish to your advantage. Every loop drops you right back at your drop bag and the main aid station, so plan exactly what you do each time through: swap a bottle, grab the next batch of calories, change socks if it is wet, then get back out before you get comfortable. The chair is the enemy. A loop course makes it very easy to sit down and very hard to get back up.

Footing and mud: the wildcard

When it is dry the footing is good and the loop runs fast. After rain it is a different ranch. The twisty singletrack sections can get slick and the low spots can turn to mud, and Central Texas in November can absolutely hand you a wet weekend. If the forecast looks damp, bring shoes with real lug and adjust your time goal down, because mud is a tax you pay on every lap.

Even in the dry, watch the rooty, twisty bits late in the day when you are tired and your feet stop lifting. Most of the trouble on a flowy course like this comes from a lapse in attention, not from anything technical. Quick feet and staying present keep you upright.

Pacing strategy for a fast, runnable loop ultra

Wild Hare is one of the few ultras where pacing discipline matters more than climbing legs. With gentle terrain and a loop you repeat, the whole game is starting slow enough that your last lap looks like your first.

Negative-split the loops on purpose

Pick a target effort for lap one that feels almost too easy, then hold it. On runnable terrain your fitness will tempt you to push, but the runners who blow up at Wild Hare are almost always the ones who ran the early loops too hard because they felt good. Aim to run your later loops as fast or faster than your early ones. If your lap splits are creeping up by the back half, you went out too hot.

Because the climbs are modest, your flat-ground pace is actually close to honest here, but the rolling bits and the tired-leg later laps still add up. A grade-adjusted pace helps you set an even effort across the rollers instead of surging every little rise and frying yourself by lap three.

Build a realistic finish prediction and work back to laps

Do not guess your finish off a flat road time. The duration, the twisty footing, and the time you spend at the start/finish each lap all add up, especially over the 50 mile. A finish prediction that accounts for this kind of course gives you a realistic window, and on a loop race you can divide it into per-lap targets, so you know exactly what each loop should take and whether you are drifting off plan.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for the loops and the duration

Depending on your distance you are out here anywhere from a couple of hours for the 25K to most of the day for the 50 mile. The good news is the loop format makes fueling dead simple: you pass full aid and your drop bag every single lap.

Carbs: steady, and use the lap to reset

For a long effort aim for around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning to the higher end only if your gut is trained for it. The nice thing about a loop course is the built-in rhythm: every lap is a checkpoint to top off and grab your next batch of calories from your drop bag, so you never have to carry a whole day of food. Use that. Set out exactly what you need for each loop and make taking it a habit, not a decision.

Practice your real race-day carb rate on long runs so 80-plus grams an hour feels normal. The flatter, faster terrain at Wild Hare means you will likely be running more of the time than on a mountain course, which actually makes it easier to keep eating, so there is no excuse to under-fuel here.

Sodium and fluid: match the day you get

Sodium needs swing with the weather, and Central Texas in November can be cool or surprisingly warm. On a mild day, somewhere in the 300 to 600 milligrams of sodium per liter of fluid range works for most people; if it turns warm or you are a salty, heavy sweater, push higher. Since aid comes every 3.5 to 4 miles, you do not need to carry much, but do not skip fluid just because the next station is close. Weigh yourself before and after a long run to find your real sweat rate and build the plan around your own number.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and the Wild Hare conditions 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, the Wild Hare loop profile, and your projected lap splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the distance you picked, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Wild Hare Trail Race FAQ

How hard is the Wild Hare Trail Race?

By ultra standards Wild Hare is on the friendly end, which is exactly why it gets picked for so many first 50Ks and 50 milers. The course is a flowy, runnable 7.8-mile loop at Bluff Creek Ranch with only modest rolling climbs, roughly 325 feet of gain per lap, so there is no big mountain to break you. The catch is that runnable cuts both ways: it is very easy to go out too fast on terrain this fun, and the repeating loops are a mental grind once the miles pile up. Respect the distance, hold back early, and it is one of the more forgiving ultras in Texas.

How much climbing is in the Wild Hare Trail Race?

Not much, and that is the point. Each 7.8-mile loop has only rolling, modest climbs over the bluff, on the order of 325 feet of gain per lap, with the official course profile listed as old and approximate. Multiply that by your distance and you land somewhere in the low four figures for the 50 mile, roughly half that for the 50K, and a few hundred feet for the 25K. There is no sustained mountain climb here, so the challenge is duration and footing, not vert.

What are the cutoff times for the Wild Hare Trail Race?

The race uses two main checkpoints. You need to be out on your final lap by 7:00 PM, and the course closes at 9:30 PM. For the 50 mile starting at 6:30 AM that works out to about 15 hours, which is generous for the distance and terrain, so the cutoffs are rarely the thing that ends someone’s day here. Always confirm the current cutoffs and any per-distance limits in the official race-day details before you start.

Is the Wild Hare Trail Race a good first ultra?

It is one of the better first-ultra picks in Texas, and a lot of people run their debut 50K or 50 mile here. The loop format means you are never far from your drop bag or an aid station, the climbs are gentle, the aid stations are well stocked, and the cutoffs are forgiving. The flip side is the mental side of repeating the same 7.8-mile loop several times over, so come in with a plan to break the day into laps and you will be in good shape.

What is the terrain and weather like at Wild Hare?

The course is a fun, twisty, mountain-bike-style 7.8-mile loop, a rollercoaster of singletrack turns mixed with fast, open field sections, over the bluffs at Bluff Creek Ranch. The footing is generally good and runnable, but it can get rooty in the twisty bits and slick or muddy if it has rained, since this is a private ranch and adventure park. Mid-November in Central Texas is often close to perfect running weather, but it can swing warm, cold, or wet, so check the forecast and plan layers and footwear for what you actually get.

How is the Wild Hare 50 mile course structured?

The 50 mile runs a modified first lap of around 11 miles, then repeats the full 7.8-mile loop five more times to make up the distance. The 50K is four full loops, the 25K is two, and the 10K is a single loop with a shortcut. Because everything is loop-based, you pass the start/finish aid station every lap, which makes drop-bag access and crew support about as easy as ultras get. That structure is a big part of why the race is so beginner-friendly.

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.