Labor Day Trail Challenge Marathon

About the race

The Labor Day Trail Challenge takes place at McKinney Roughs Nature Park in Cedar Creek, Texas, and presents multiple trail formats and distances across single-track trails and fire roads along the Colorado River. The event uses the park's Lost Pines landscape, with river overlooks, box canyons, wildflower meadows, and loblolly pine stands.

The course passes through four distinct ecosystems: Post Oak Savannah, Blackland Prairie, East Texas Piney Woods, and a riparian corridor. Terrain includes technical single-track, rolling elevation with up to 469 feet of gain on box canyons and ridgelines, and scenic bluff-top views of the Colorado River. Aid stations are placed on course and a main start/finish hub provides hot food, fruit, cold drinks, electrolytes, snacks, and additional supplies.

Distances and formats include:

• Half Marathon & Ruck 13.1 miles
• Marathon 26.2 miles
• 50K approximately 31 miles
• 50 Mile
• 8-Hour Timed Run or Relay
• Gauntlet: Last Runner Standing backyard ultra format

The Gauntlet uses a fixed two-mile loop run on the hour. The first block is one lap per hour for eight hours, then two laps per hour for the next eight hours, then three laps per hour thereafter; the loop count increases by one every eight hours. An 8-hour timed format records actual distance covered and chip times are taken at the 50K mark; an 8-hour competitor who covers 50K faster than the registered 50K field may be eligible for the 50K award under the event's crossover rule.

Rucking is a separate division with dry minimum pack weights (20 lb if under 150 lb, 30 lb if 150 lb or over), mandatory weigh-in before the start and a finish weight check, and rules that water does not count toward the minimum weight. Half-marathon, marathon, 50K and 50-mile finishers receive a custom rodeo-style belt buckle and an event shirt; all finishers receive a finisher medal. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.

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