In 2001 Tejas Trails officially started from Joe & Joyce Prusaitis' love of trail running...plain and simple. After coming to a point where Joe was able to make a career change, the question Joyce asked was, "If you could do anything, what would you do?", & that's how they decided to try putting on trail runs. They started off with one race at Rocky Hill Ranch in 2001. That’s when they started organizing trail runs ‘officially’. They gave it the perfect name - Tejas Trails. Tejas means "friendly". They didn't know all the ways to go about owning their own business, but they knew trail running, ultra running & hard work. And they knew it better than most people around. They were pioneers in the off-road race directing world. Trail running was barely even a thing when they started the company.
They grew it from a single, friendly run into multiple races. They barely advertised the business, but more people kept coming. So they kept adding races & being asked to take over other races. Tejas Trails has grown to around 20 total trail running races, several of which have been USA National Championship events for multiple distances. Several events are included in national & international trail & mountain running race series. Major sponsors have asked to be involved & rookie & elite runners are showing up from all over the country & world.
In 2015, Joe and Joyce decided they were ready to move toward retirement, so they brought Chris & Krissy McWatters into the business. Chris has been a competitive runner for a long time & has finished some of the longest & toughest endurance competitions on the planet. He even has a course record, & some wins & top places in some of Tejas Trails' past races. He has been in race directing for a long time as well. With much humility & appreciation for what these races offer people, Chris & Krissy gave Tejas Trails a new tagline. Tejas Trails, more than just trail running..."
Many of our runners are familiar with another well known & much loved race director in Central Texas: Brad Quinn, of Traverse Running. Brad & Nyla Quinn founded Traverse Running in 2006 & hosted the inaugural Capt’n Karl’s Run, which was the first nighttime trail race in Texas & currently the longest running night trail series in the country! Though Traverse Running operated a separate company from Tejas Trails, Brad & Joe worked together for years on races hosted by both companies. Tejas Trails & Traverse Running events have grown & cultivated a strong trail running community in Texas & beyond, attracting runners from all 50 states & dozens of countries. In June 2016, Traverse Running & Tejas Trails announced the partnership of the two race companies and joined forces. Tejas Trails & the former Traverse Running events will be directed by the McWatters & Quinns, all under the Tejas Trails banner.
In 2024, the Traverse events started flying on their own under the new ownership of PJ Izaguirre. PJ has done a great job continuing on the legacy of those great Traverse races, and in bringing in his own passion has changed the name of Traverse Running to Perspective Pacing. He still race directs for Tejas Trails and the relationship between Tejas Trails and Traverse Running (now Perspective Pacing) will forever remain amicable. We encourage you to continue supporting those great races with your racing and volunteering.
This is where you come in. These trail running events can give you a good challenge for the day or offer some fun for a weekend. But most likely, what you'll find is more than just trail running... it's a community... it’s family...it's serenity...it's a break from chaos...it's testing...it's translatable to the rest of life...it's life-changing.
We are humbled that you are racing or volunteering at one or some of our events. You can trust that we are working our hardest to find scenic courses that are as beautiful & unique as possible. You will find looped races with an unbelievable amount of aid stations & medical support. We keep courses open for a long time for runners trying to make their first attempt at a long race or for those who do not plan to go fast...ever. We also have the fastest of the fast at our races if you want to test yourself at the state, national & international levels.
One of our favorite things in the entire world is watching our story, the Tejas Trails story, become a part of your story...
If you come out to a race, be sure to find us & say hi. We are here for you & your family on race day, before, & after.
- The McWatters, Quinn, Izaguirre, & Prusaitis families
Read the majority of the above story in the published Write-Up in Ultra Running Magazine.
2001 at Rocky Hill Ranch, Tejas Trails started.
2003 Bandera was created
2004 took ownership of Rocky Raccoon
Rocky Raccoon started in 1993, so it became a Tejas Trails race in it’s 11th year2007 created Cactus Rose
2009 renamed Rocky Hill Ranch race to Hells Hills
2010 took ownership of the Camp Eagle Trail Runs, renamed it to Nueces
2010 took ownership of Warda Cardiac
2011 renamed Warda Cardiac to Wild Hare
2012 created Pandora's Box o Rox
2014 split the 50 mi out from Rocky 100, made Rocky 50 it’s own race
2015 took ownership of Paleface
2016 sold to McWatters 9 races total. Nueces changed to J&J
2016 Capt’n Karl’s Series and Hill Country Trivium brought under the Tejas Trails umbrella
2017 created Tinajas and Texas Trail Running Festival
2017 created Mosaic
2018 changed Paleface to Mellow
2019 created Spider Mountain
2019 created Cypress Trail Run
2020 created Trailway
2024 created Full Circle and River’s Edge