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The Steep Stuff Podcast
Mason Coppi - Post Sunapee Scramble Interview
Mountain running has a new force to reckon with. Fresh off his silver medal performance at the 2025 USATF Mountain Running Championships, Mason Copey joins James Lauriello to break down the race that earned him a coveted spot on Team USA for the upcoming World Championships.
What makes this conversation particularly fascinating is the clear evolution of an athlete coming into his own. Mason candidly shares how just two years ago on the same course, he "could not stay on my feet" during descents, losing multiple positions every time the trail pointed downhill. Through dedicated technical training and strategic racing, he's transformed this weakness into a strength that now puts fear into his competitors.
The championship race itself unfolded on a course rendered nearly unrecognizable by torrential rain. "You would take steps and your foot would disappear underneath mud," Mason explains, painting a vivid picture of the chaotic conditions that created a truly unpredictable battle. His minute-by-minute breakdown of the final moments—complete with tactical decisions, cramping calves, and the roar of spectators—puts you right in the middle of the action.
Beyond the race itself, this conversation delves into training methodology that worked, including the surprising impact of cycling and marathon preparation on mountain running performance. Mason also looks ahead to Team USA's prospects at Worlds, offering genuine excitement about the squad's potential to compete for medals against the best mountain runners on the planet.
Whether you're a competitive trail runner looking for training insights or simply enjoy compelling stories of athletic achievement against challenging conditions, this episode delivers a masterclass in what it takes to perform at the highest level of mountain running. Don't miss Mason's journey from falling on every descent to standing on the national championship podium.
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What's up, fam? Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, James Lauriello, bringing you an episode today with the 2025 Men's USATF Mountain Running Runner-Up, Mr Mason Copey. Super fun episode. Just getting caught up with Mason about a week removed from his second place finish at the 2025 Sunup Peace Scramble Really fun little conversation. It's been fun to see Mason develop over the last few years and just become the athlete that he is today. Big admirer of this guy and hope you guys enjoy this one. It's a great episode. So, without further ado, none other than just a quick one with Mr Mason Copey. Mason Copey, welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How are you, buddy?
Speaker 2:Hello, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me on again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I'm excited to be having this conversation. I kind of figured we would be. It made sense. I'm just so excited for you. We obviously talked before this and you're training. You've been working your butt off and I follow your training. We talked before this and it just seemed like everything kind of came together for you on Saturday or Sunday. Sorry, what would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:I would say, yeah, I think I was actually a little bit shocked during the race of just how good I felt and how how everything came together. Like, of course we talked before this race, I was confident in my training, I felt really good going into that. But there's always that that degree of like uncertainty entering into a race. You really never know what's going to happen and I just remember thinking in the middle of the race just like, wow, this, this is happening, I feel good, I feel like strong out there. And it wasn't like that the entire race, of course, but yeah, it's just was an amazing feeling, feeling everything come together.
Speaker 1:It was crazy, it was, and it was so much fun to follow along. I mean, as from what I could see from the commentators, like from basically from the commentator booth and from like the live stream that I could see, you were never not like in contact. I don't know if you would agree with that. It seemed like you were pretty much in contact with the leaders or in the lead kind of back and forth throughout the entire race yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was that was a really cool experience. Um, I, that wasn't originally my plan going into the race. Um, it was just one of those things of, like I said, I was just kind of surprised, like I felt really good and decided to roll with it. I was originally planning on kind of being a little further back on that first climb but, um, I went out with the leaders and just felt very, very comfortable, um, and very good in that position. So so I decided to pivot from the plan and just go with it, and the entire time was just like if someone took the lead, I would just sit off of them, or I would take the lead in times that I felt that I should, or if I was just hitting a flow, and so, yeah, I was always up. There was. That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:One of the things that was really interesting to me, cause I've always known you obviously to be like really complete. Like you're a very good climber, obviously you're a very good descender. Would you agree that your descending has gotten better? Because I've got I heard a couple compliments from a couple of different folks, like damn, dude Mason was so hard to keep up with their catch on the descent. Like would you, would you agree that your descendings has really come a long way?
Speaker 2:Oh, a hundred percent. Uh, so when I did this, I think like this was actually a really cool reflection point on that for me, because I did this race, Um, and it wasn't the exact same course but similar, uh almost the exact same descent, I think, um, from like two years ago when they hosted nationals, and I remember doing that race and I could not stay on my feet, I was slipping, I was falling the entire time. I think I lost just I don't know maybe like 10 places every time we went down, like the descent, and then I'd have to catch up. And so this race was kind of a surprise for me that I was able able to keep up, um on the descents and not just keep up but like put time on other people. So that was a really big kind of progression point that I noticed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was amazing. Like I said, a lot of compliments from your peers and I said it in the group, like we were in, obviously, obviously, in the live stream we're talking about it and we were going through results and things like that and I was like that's not the same mason from 2023, that's a different mason right there. So, yeah, I'm happy with that prediction. I'm glad like you were able to just put it all together. Let me ask you this so, from what we could see in the live stream, um, we kind of lost contact with you guys and we're more following the front of the women's race. Maybe kind of in that second lap. We didn't really see you through the glades, we just saw, kind of maybe just before the finish line, we saw David yourself, maybe Cam and, I think, taylor all come down very close. How was that? Was that a lot of back and forth? Was Norris commandingly in the lead? Like, were you, were you trying to get him or were you trying to hold your spot? Like what were you thinking at that point?
Speaker 2:yeah. So the end of the race was so exciting, like for for me as a competitor, and I I do wish like more of it got caught on footage, because a lot of the race went down actually, um, on the ascent, on that first ascent, especially when we were back on that more technical section, which of course you can't really film because we're just out in the middle of the woods and can't get a camera back there, but it was really interesting. So Taylor and I entered into that wooded section first on the ascent, and we were moving along. It felt like we were kind of by ourselves. At some point I heard footsteps behind us so I thought, oh, we, we need to get going, and so I actually tried taking the lead from taylor. And that was actually a very bad mistake, uh, because I ended up like taking it and just I was closer to red line than I thought and this was the only like mistake I felt I made in the race was trying to take it from him because he was so good at climbing right there, and so I took it for I don't know maybe a minute, and then he just dropped me and that was like just blew by me and I was kind of redlining trying to catch and that's when David passed me and so we entered out like outside of the woods, and I thought I had been dropped a lot and it's so dense Like I couldn't see anyone. I'm just running for my life there.
Speaker 2:When we pop out of the woods I see that they're not too far away from me. Taylor's still in the in the lead and David's coming up. He's, he's starting to like reel them in, but they're not too far away from me. So I'm like, okay, I'm still in this race, I'm still doing this. And also, in the back of my head, I know that there's guys like Dan and Andy also who are just such good descenders. So I was like, okay, those two guys are probably coming for me and I like cam as well. I I knew like he he would be hammering that.
Speaker 2:And so we get to the like downhill and I can see them ahead and I can see david starting to uh catch up to taylor. I think he actually made his pass in the glades on that downhill, really technical, really rudy, really muddy section. I think that's where david um made his move and but I couldn't. I couldn't really see much of that because I was so focused on just staying on my feet in that section I wasn't really seeing what they were doing. Until we popped out of the glades and I think, yes, david was in the front.
Speaker 2:I saw, saw Taylor, and at this point I was like, okay, I want to catch them, but my calves are starting to cramp. And I'm like, okay, do I? Do I throw in a surge to try to catch them and risk like cramping and maybe lose my spot? But or do I risk it and try to like move up position? I was kind of toying that in in my head and actually what ended up happening was, right at the bottom of the hill, one of my one of my friends just started screaming for me, just absolutely screaming. And then also, I think someone made a mistake and thought, uh, taylor was dan yeah at some point.
Speaker 2:So people were shouting dan, so I thought dan was behind me, coming in hot, and so I'm like, oh man, I have to get going. And so I threw in a surge there and that's when I ended up, uh, passing taylor dav out in front, and I'm like, okay, cool, cool, and we get to the like little flat section. And at that point I was still running out all out because I still thought like Dan was coming in hot and, of course, like Taylor at any point could come back, and so I was going out all out, but David was so far away that I didn't have enough real estate, I didn't have enough gears to catch up, and so it was just at that point, just celebrating making the team and just going through the line there.
Speaker 1:Wow, dude, thanks for painting that picture. Holy moly, that's so crazy.
Speaker 2:It was so fun.
Speaker 1:I feel like we Alright, next time around. Like I feel like we all right next time around. Like I feel like we need cameras in the woods like capturing this, so we can make like real solid content from it. Just because, like that's such, it would have been so cool to have like been able to not just commentate that, but to be able to convey that story.
Speaker 2:That's so crazy yeah, no, and I I'm assuming you're going to be interviewing, uh, some of the guys as well, because I'd love to hear their stories as well. I know like one piece I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but David at some point lost his shoe, like his shoe fell off, yeah, and he had to put it back on mid race.
Speaker 2:He still won. It was just such a lot. That's the other thing about this race. There was so much mud on the course because on Saturday it just dumped rain all day. I've been living out in Colorado and I haven't seen that much rain since I moved out here, and so that was kind of shocking. But you would take steps and your foot would just disappear underneath mud. It would just be gone, and so the entire race was just chaos, and it made for very exciting, very dynamic racing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, the course was crazy. Did you happen? I seem like I mean I watched everybody fall. Did you fall at all?
Speaker 2:You know, what's funny is I fell on the uphill, like on that second lap, like the second, the second climb, I think it's because everyone had come through and it was just on grass, that was a muddy mess, and I just like going straight up, I just slipped out and just like fell down and that's where I fell. So that was the one point that I like had a fall. I stumbled a few times and I did run into a tree pretty badly. Back in the woods Again on the uphill. I don't know what I'm doing on uphills, maybe I'm just like so in, like the zone and in the hole that I'm just not paying attention, and downhills I'm locked in and actually paying attention, but luckily I didn't have too many falls like going down.
Speaker 1:Jesus man, what a crazy course. I mean I feel like it lived up to that East coast hype for sure.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely that was an absolutely wild and I do think like that was one of the things that helped me going into this race. I do have a background in East Coast running like living in Syracuse for three years and like training racing a lot out there doing races in New Hampshire and Vermont, so that was definitely a big, big help there big help there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, definitely. Was there anything from like was anybody else a surprise? Like obviously you were locked in, you're, you're running your race, it's your day, but like the Norris surprise you, or did anybody? Or like Taylor, for instance, like I think a lot of people, I think a lot of people didn't think Taylor would be that far up front and I think that kind of surprised a lot of folks too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I it was. It was weird going into this race because you look at that starting list and there were 10 guys I was concerned about and so, like, taylor and David were on that list, but I so, but I didn't know who to focus on Right, like how they were going to be showing up, um, I didn't know if they're going to be dealing with injuries. I didn't know how they would do on, like, east coast trails, because a lot of these guys I I haven't seen how they've performed in those conditions, um, and so there were just so many, there was so much uncertainty. So I knew that, like, going into this race and I said it on this in our pre-race that I could see myself winning. I could also see myself completely off the podium, and I just think that was the caliber of the athlete.
Speaker 2:So I think I was a little surprised again, just how many like competitive people were in the race. I think I was expecting, um, different people. Again, I was always worried about Andy and, uh, dan catching me on the downhills and again, they had amazing downhills, um, and so those were people that I was really thinking about. So, those were people that I was really thinking about, but again, like it was just so competitive that any person I saw up with me I'd be like, yeah, that makes sense. Of course they can be up here and of course they're competitive with me. I need to like watch out for these people.
Speaker 1:Do you feel now that like this is this confirms, obviously, all the work you've been putting in? Do you feel like, cause, I feel like you've reached a different level. You're at like a completely different level, like world-class. Now, like, would you? Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:I would agree with that.
Speaker 2:I again like the thing that I took away from this race is just, again, I felt very strong and very, very comfortable out there, outside of that one point that I just talked about of like being in the woods and getting getting dropped hard, but I think that just speaks to the, the caliber of athlete that, um, taylor and David are as well.
Speaker 2:But again I I feel very strong, very confident and, yeah, I I do think I'm at this world caliber level and the really exciting thing for me also is like how close David, taylor and I all were right at the end and like Cam as well. That's the team we're sending to worlds and we that's such a tight spread on such a difficult course and it gets me so excited for like the team and how we're going to like perform at worlds like we're coming in with one of. Of course, I'm biased because I'm on the team, but I think we're coming in for one of like the most like competitive US men's team and I'm I'm just so excited to be a part of that and excited to see what we're going to be able to do on that, uh, on that world stage.
Speaker 1:It's cool, right, like you and you guys are going to compete for medals, in my opinion, and you have and like, just because you like, for instance, like and there's a lot of experience there, like you were on the Chiang Mai team, you got Cam, who's literally races internationally all the time. Yeah, you know, david Norris was almost an Olympian, like he was right there, and Taylor Taylor's kind of new, so he's in the process of learning and kind of figuring out, but there's a lot more experience on this team that we're going to be sending that I think people realize. Dude, you guys are going to be competing for medals. There's no doubt in my mind.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely. And like, even like another thing I've been thinking about with, with Cam and David. They uh I haven't been following their Stravas too closely, but they're, they're ski guys. They're coming off off of ski seasons. Think about how good they're going to be at the end of the summer coming into fall. And taylor too, like you mentioned he's he's new, he's already performed at like what I would consider a world stage at broken arrow, but he's also like he's starting up, uh, a new training um. He's also getting coached by David Roach, my same coach, and he's starting off like some some newer training style stuff, and I think he's going to improve a lot, even like throughout the summer as well. And so I'm just I'm really excited for for all of that to kind of come together at the in the fall there's a lot of momentum.
Speaker 1:We're months out, like there's time to prepare. Yeah, I agree, and you know it's. You're. So, like, spot on. Like cam usually peaks around the time the rut is, that's the same. That's around the time that worlds is going to be. So you know it's. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. Um, yeah, like I said, I'm so happy, like I think the team and like they're, like you said, like there's 10 guys that could have been selected for this that will go compete for like that would have gone to compete for medals.
Speaker 2:So let me, I'm sorry, let me be sure oh yeah, I was gonna say like if you even more evidence for how strong the the team we have here is, like the people who didn't get picked right, like that is such. Like if you took out the top four and sent the next top four, the us would still have an amazingly strong team. Like that is just crazy and it's so cool seeing the sport like come to this point and just seeing like this depth of field and it's the same on the women's side as well Like, oh my gosh, like that field was the exact same, like depth and like crazy, and I'm excited, I'm really excited, to see what they can do as well.
Speaker 1:Do the women? I mean, like there was to me there was no surprises really. Like I kind of figured the ones that were up front, like Allie and, you know, anna Lauren, like that's, there's no surprise there, right, so like that team going, that's another one. Like I would be surprised if they didn't get some sort of metal, right, like is there? That's like.
Speaker 2:Oh, I a hundred percent bet them on gold Like.
Speaker 1:I don't want to put pressure on that one out there, yeah.
Speaker 2:But like I I, and like I don't want to put pressure on them I think all of them would be expecting that, though, like all of them have been, like like Allie and um Grayson, like have have been world champions and like they're all in contention for that, that sort of like like world champion, um sort of thing, and so I I am really excited to see what they can do. Super cool.
Speaker 1:How are you feeling? Are you going to go race uh out GoPro games this weekend?
Speaker 2:weekend yes, I'm kind of debating that one still.
Speaker 2:So yesterday I tried to do a run and I made it like a few feet out from my apartment and decided that I was going to cut my run like by more than an in half, and that was just a true shuffle and end up just just biking. Today I I think like I felt a lot better. I think yesterday's run helped break up the soreness, um, but I think it's still going to be a game time decision. I'll definitely be at the race and I might run it as as a workout or I might race it if we'll just see how I'm feeling. Kind of, how I'm at at this point is I just don't want to take any risks. I agree, coming off of a race like this and again now I'm thinking in terms of training through end of September, like end of September is like the end goal and so now's not the time to really really do anything dangerous. So I think it's a bit of a coin flip on whether or not I'm going to be racing or just out there for fun.
Speaker 1:Cool, cool. And what's the plan for Broken Arrow? Do you think you're still going to go out there, or?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm a hundred percent going out. Uh, at this point I've decided I'm no longer going to be doing the ascent, okay, so I talked about it with my coach, david, and this isn't to bash on vertical races. If you like vertical races, do them. They're awesome. They do not personally bring me joy, like I do not love them. I mostly signed up for it because I want to make the world steam and I'm good at them. I know I can perform well at them. They're just not my favorite thing, and so I I signed up with intention of if I didn't make the classic team, then I would go and try to do that one. Um, but it it's just not something that I personally want to do, and I think I'd rather leave that spot open for, or like I wouldn't want to do it at worlds either. I would just want to focus on the classic while I'm out there, and so I will be at a broken arrow doing the 23 K, though.
Speaker 1:Perfect, perfect, and I think that's such a sweet, that's a good sweet spot Not too long, nice and fast, like it's a fun, fun race and I think that suits you well, like especially after last year, like how you ended the season both you know, like Headlands, mammoth, like everything kind of clicked really well. So it's going to be fun to see you compete there.
Speaker 2:And I think it's two, I, I, I want to say it was four, but I wasn't. I wasn't paying that close attention because, again, my I, I really wanted to go all in on on classic and I didn't want to be at a point where I was in the middle of the classic race and say, oh well, I can just wait until broken arrow. So I wasn't even like thinking about it at all in terms of that, like I was thinking about the, the race generally, but that's mostly because, um, I have some athletes racing it and so I was thinking about the course and how I wanted to prepare them for that, but I wasn't thinking about the direct spots.
Speaker 1:No, I think it's a good idea. Yeah, it makes total sense. Let me ask you this so when you speak of athletes, you speak about coaching. The experiment worked, dude, that was something we talked about before this.
Speaker 2:There's got to be some joy and elation there and like, just like reinforcement, you know the biking I did in, like the in the pre-race, I think that has made a big, like a big impact in in my climbing ability. And then also people were asking me after the race, like what do I feel like made the difference? Like what caused that that shift, Like like you said and I would agree, like I'm racing at a different level than I was in the past, and I think there's a lot of factors, there's so many things that that go into this. But I think the biking has really helped. I also think I think back to, like the marathon training that I did.
Speaker 2:I think even after doing Ventura, like last year, I saw a big jump in my climbing ability and my ability to climb up hills and just recover on downhills and just threshold stuff really improved through that marathon road build. And then also there's been, um, I've focused a lot on my downhill training, Like I, like we were talking about earlier. I've really made progress there and that's been something that I've also been thinking a lot about and that's something I work with my athletes a lot on is like okay, how do we get better at these technical descents, how do we run faster on them? So that's been another experiment itself, and so there's all these elements that I saw helping and like kind of clicking and it's like okay, that works, that's awesome, and so that was really gratifying and really exciting.
Speaker 1:Super cool, man, super cool. All right, so you're on team USA. Things are rolling now, after broken arrow. What are you thinking? You're going to take a little downtime? You're going to race anything short or just kind of start preparing for worlds.
Speaker 2:Uh, I've got a packed schedule. I love racing. I think I also race into fit. I like I race into fitness really well, like the more races I get and, of course, being careful of injury. But I'm targeting a lot of the cirque series races this year. I think those one. I just have so much fun at those races I love them. They're just, they're fun, they're enjoyable, um, but I also think they're amazing training. Also like one of the reasons why I do think I've gotten better at downhills is doing those races, like going up to those races and like bombing down those descents and like they have technical bits. They have like flatter, faster bits, and I think that really helped me last year, just like practicing. And so I'll definitely be doing those and I have a few more kind of uh picked out throughout the summer. But I'll definitely be getting um, a decent bit of decent bit of racing in before worlds.
Speaker 1:I saw you on the start list for Kendall. Are you going to make that happen this year? That's a sweet race, man.
Speaker 2:Yes, I am coming out for that one. I I've never done it. I'm really excited. I haven't really explored that, that part of Colorado. So that'll be, that'll be exciting to to check out, and there's always good competition at that. So I'm I'm pretty stoked.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's going to be a good one. Excited to see you there. All right, man. Well, I think we're. We're almost at time, Mason, I again I can't like sing your praises enough, dude. It's been so fun on this ride, kind of seeing you, us talk before and then see you go and get the spot. So congratulations, and I'm so excited for you to go to worlds and live that dream. Dude, this is exciting.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Thanks, thanks again for having me on and thank you for the support.
Speaker 1:Uh, I'm super excited, super stoked to be going worlds as well. Awesome, buddy, appreciate it. Listen up, guys. The Steep Stuff podcast is brought to you by Ultimate Direction USA Guys. I am so excited.
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