The Steep Stuff Podcast
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The Steep Stuff Podcast
Mason Coppi - Pre 2025 World Trail Championship Interview
What happens when you suddenly find yourself among the world's elite athletes? Mason Coppi, who has exploded onto the sub-ultra mountain running scene with remarkable success, joins us for a candid conversation about his journey to the top and upcoming World Championships appearance.
Despite dominating races and earning his place among the sport's best, Mason reveals his ongoing battle with imposter syndrome. "I would feel uncomfortable putting my name in that conversation," he admits, even as his results speak volumes. Yet he's found a powerful antidote in staying present during competition – deliberately pausing during races to absorb the scenery and experience the joy of the moment.
Having represented Team USA once before at Chiang Mai, Mason approaches this year's World Championships in Spain with fresh perspective. His first European trip represents not just a personal milestone but an opportunity to be part of something bigger. The camaraderie within Team USA has transformed his approach, creating what he describes as a true team environment he hasn't experienced since college. Through pre-championship training camps and races, these elite individuals have formed a cohesive unit ready to challenge the world's best.
As preparation for the technically demanding world championship course continues, Mason shares his philosophy of maintaining successful training approaches rather than making dramatic changes. His balanced perspective extends to his championship expectations – acknowledging the exceptional difficulty while maintaining confidence in his abilities. Most compelling is his vision for what a team medal might mean: "This is an opportunity to really show what we're capable of" and potentially rewrite the narrative around American mountain running on the global stage.
Listen now to this inspiring conversation about athletic excellence, team dynamics, and finding joy in the journey to the top. Follow Mason and Team USA as they take on the world's best mountain runners and represent American trail running on the global stage!
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Follow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_pod
Use code steepstuffpod for 25% off your cart at UltimateDirection.com!
It's time. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We are live. Mason Copey. Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How's it going, man?
Speaker 2:Hello, thank you so much for having me back on. I'm excited to be here. Things have been going really well for me recently.
Speaker 1:Dude, it's been so much fun to get to witness some of your performances and get to chat with you and spend time with you. It's been fun to follow along man it's with you and spend time with you. And it's been fun to follow along man it's um, it's been just an amazing year for you, like you have truly become and I don't say this lately like you've become one of the best like sub ultra mountain runners on the planet, which is so cool to say that I know you kind of cool.
Speaker 2:Uh, that's kind of crazy to think about. Um, it has been a wild, um, a wild season. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm super happy with, like, what I've been able to accomplish, and it still doesn't quite seem real, like to an extent, like, of course, I put a lot of work, um into this and like getting to this point, but it's still kind of odd.
Speaker 1:Do you have imposter syndrome at all, like I know? Like last year you won, you won a few races, like it was. You won. Obviously you know circuit or what was it, um circ alta and a few others, but like this year, like when you shoot you, you haven't really missed much. How does that like?
Speaker 2:you have imposter syndrome, now that you're like, I think it would make me very uncomfortable to say I'm one of the best in the world and even like to like articulate that and to like mention that. And if you were to bring up other like really good, um, really good world leading athletes, I I would feel uncomfortable putting my name in that conversation, even though I may like, based off my results, not be too far off, um, so if that is kind of weird, I do feel like when racing, though, my confidence is in a really good spot, um, and I think it's very like when I'm in a race, I know what I'm capable of doing, and then the imposter syndrome kind of bleeds away a little bit to a certain extent, because I know where my fitness is at, I know what I'm capable of, and then I'm a little less concerned about lack of confidence.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's not just me who has said it. David Roche was very public and put that on his story and I was really happy about that giving you your flowers, because I think you should get all the recognition in the world for all your hard work. I just find that to be so amazing. I do have to add one thing, because this is a question I've had for you. I've been stewing on this for a while. It's something I've been thinking about a lot, because I don't just pertain this to running. I think about this in podcasting. I think about this in life when you get so good at something and put so much hard work into something and you're starting to see, you know, like the results, that you've truly actually mastered something, or like you're close to it in some way, shape or form, like does that ever cross your mind or do you take great pride in that?
Speaker 2:I take a lot of pride and like how, how far I've come, and like what I've been, what I've been able to accomplish, and so, uh, david's actually my coach and I've been working with him for a couple of years and like one of the things that has been really impactful for me this year, um, that David said to me before Sunby, before thes champs back in june, was something like something to the effect of really enjoy this period of time.
Speaker 2:Uh, because it's kind of a unique period of where things are like I'm kind of ratcheting my way up through kind of the ranks, so to say, um, and it's not really going to be something I ever really get to like experience again, probably, Um, cause it's I'm kind of in this sweet spot of there's not a lot of expectations for me, um, but also like things are going really well, and so I've been trying to stay really present, enjoying the process and enjoying that and enjoying where I am at the moment. Going back to the imposter syndrome there's always going to be that nagging thing in the back of my head that says, oh, I could be better at this. Oh, I could be better at that, or oh, I could be doing this or I could be as fast as that person, and that's that's always been like the back of my head and, um, one of the things I've really been trying to like work on this year is like be happy in the and content in the present moment.
Speaker 1:So if you actually stopped yourself, then maybe when you're standing on a on a podium, or maybe as you're cresting a final descent, like to to break the tape, like do you tell yourself, like, take this in Cause, like this is a really special moment in my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, definitely, like I I tell myself that before the uh, before the race, during the race, and like on the podium, just trying to trying to enjoy it. Because, again, like I know that this, this exact moment is is unique and not something that I'm going to be able to, to experience forever, um, and so I'm trying to trying to enjoy that, and I try to enjoy that in every race. Anyways, like I do try to and I encourage um other people to do this as well like when you're in the race, like stop, take a moment, to just like experience the joy of the event, um, and like take, take a break, look around, see the scenery, like you can like stop, take a breath, and and all that. And so that's something that I I tried to do I love it.
Speaker 1:Well, you're gonna get a second shot at worlds man, and I feel like this is, uh, an opportunity and one of those ones where you're gonna get like time to take it in and get to feel like, okay, like I'm, I'm back, I get to do this again. How does that feel? What did you learn from Chiang Mai that you can take into this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think in Chiang Mai I ended up getting on the team because someone ended up dropping their spot Eli Hemming ended up dropping his spot and so I was bumped in. But this happened very last minute. So I was like, going to Chiang Mai to represent the US, like I had like a month in advance of knowing that I was going. So it was super last minute I wasn't able to plan out the trip, I wasn't able to get to know any of the team members that I was going with beforehand, and so it just all felt very rushed and I was, of course, very excited to be going there. But I think there was this general feeling of feeling overwhelmed about like just kind of being thrust into this, um, thrust into this space, and I was also dealing with a bit of a bit of an injury leading up into the uh, uh race, and so it was kind of this this awkward, awkward experience. I still had a ton of fun, still really enjoyed it. Awkward experience. I still had a ton of fun, still really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:But I think I came out of that trip feeling like I was lacking a couple of things. One was like being present in the moment and enjoying it. I think I was so concerned about just the performance of the actual race I wasn't really thinking about enjoying my, my time in a new country, um, meeting new people, um from the team USA and all of that, and that's something that is really cool about this, this trip and getting to do it again. So, um, one really excited to um explore Spain and see Spain. I've never, I've never been there Spain, I've never been there before, I've never been to Europe before. So that's really exciting. Oh really, oh wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, so this will be my first time in Europe, so I'm really excited for that and just to experience that, I'm getting out there a little bit early.
Speaker 2:I'm going to fly out on Sunday, so I'll have a bit of extra time to just kind of explore um and get to know the area and enjoy all that.
Speaker 2:The other big thing that, like I'm really excited about this race is I've actually gotten it an opportunity to meet other people from team USA. So we actually had a uh team USA training camp for the uh mountain team or the sub ultra, like mountain and vertical team, and pretty much everyone from from those teams showed up and it was just so fun. Like all those people are just amazing and it was so cool to like meet them and get to know them, meet them and get to know them and like really feel like I was joining a team, like we all actually have a team environment, because now we've bumped into each other at other races and we feel like team members, which isn't something I've gotten to experience since, like college. So that's super exciting and so I think the thing that I'm really taking into this world, compared to the last worlds I went to, is just like enjoying the overall experience and kind of being in the moment for that.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. So I was. I was supposed to be there to interview you guys. I was going to go to BV to talk to you guys and hang out, but I had scheduling conflicts and didn't get a chance to do it.
Speaker 1:But that said, dude, it would have been cool to be the only non-USA member that I could hang out with you guys. It would have been fun. Let's talk about that a little bit. How has the dynamic worked with David Norris yourself, cam and Taylor To me, outside ofris yourself? Uh, cam and Taylor, like this is, I mean to me outside of the women's classic team, like we're sending a squad dude, like the, the, the euros are put on notice. Like this is going to be a dirty team, so excited to see you guys compete. I, it seems like cam, and I don't know if I just from viewing the dynamic from outside, cam has a ton of experience with um, with schema right, so there's a lot of leadership there that I feel like he can kind of bring to the team, knowing how a lot of these teams work, knowing what it's like to compete on an international level and kind of bringing that to you guys. Has that been the dynamic is like? Has that helped a lot? Or like how? How has the dynamic worked between you guys?
Speaker 2:Oh, a hundred percent. I think you're like, you really have a good idea of the dynamic. So Cam was actually the one who set up the entire camp. That was all Cam organizing and all through the job of like keeping the team connected, getting excited. I, um, I saw him at Cirque series Alta and just his support of of me there and like, again, we were talking about um, about worlds and getting excited about that, about worlds and getting excited about that.
Speaker 2:Another great like cam story is on the line. At, uh, broken arrow, the 23 K, he grabbed both me and Taylor. I was like, hey, this is this is our debut as team USA. Um, this is this is our opportunity to show, like what we have and like let's really pack up and and crush this thing. And if anyone remembers like the results, we did end up finishing right next to each other.
Speaker 2:So it's taylor, cam, then me, and for a lot of the race we were running together and so it has been this very big team dynamic and like, yeah, on the starting line of Broken Arrow, when Cam said that to me, I was like, heck, yeah, absolutely, we're a team, we're going to like go through this together and like, throughout the race, we were pushing each other and it never felt like it's been cool, because it hasn't felt like this, like rivalry in terms of like, like a usual competitive rivalry, right, like in a usual competitive rivalry, like you're just wanting to beat the other person, that's all you want to do, um, you want them to do well, you're like, but you, you just want to beat them for the most part, and this one, it's like gosh. I kind of hope they go with me when I make this move and I kind of hope, like they follow and I hope they respond, um, and that's just. Again, it's been something I haven't experienced in in such a long time and it's been really fun to experience again.
Speaker 1:So cool. Oh man, I I'm like I said, I feel like we're sending the dream team between, uh, all the teams that we're sending. It's going to be, it's going to be amazing. Um, I haven't asked him this. I'm going to have him on the next few days.
Speaker 1:What um and same, pretty much the. I'm going to have the whole team on, but like, what, uh, what is expectation? Like? How do you define expectations going into a race like this? Is it, I know, for you, like you have, like I feel like you guys all have definitely something to prove, but I think for you, stepping in that professional arena, where you absolutely deserve to be, is that something that weighing on you, like what, like, what is your expectation for this race?
Speaker 2:that's a good question. To be honest, I'm not thinking too much about proving myself. I, of course, want to have a good race, but with the past season that I've had, I don't feel I have all that much, all that much to prove, and I also feel that the main thing I just need to focus on is myself and my, my own running abilities, and running to my best of my ability, I think, will lead to a good result. Um, in terms of expectations, I think it's going to be really hard. Like that's the thing like I'm expecting is just like I'm entering an arena with like so many good runners and it's something that I don't get to experience. Like it's something you don't get to experience almost ever, because it's the world championships right, like all the best from all the countries are going to be there. It's the world championships right, like all the best from all the countries are going to be there and it's going to.
Speaker 2:I'm probably, at some point in the race, going to be further back than what I'm used to and it's going to be chaotic. There's going to be people that I can't just like drop and can't just like pull, pull, move on, cause in the, the races that I I typically go to, of course, there's some great runners there where maybe having like a field of like 20 runners who are really good, but now we're talking about a field of like almost 100 runners who are all amazing and like all like super intense and like are going to be very difficult for me to be. So I think that's going to be an interesting thing to experience and, um, so yeah, I think my expectations are just that it's going to be hard. Um, as simple as as simple as that is.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it, I mean, I like, I think that's it's. It's a good approach, just because it's like if you were to have sat here and be like James, I'm good, I'm here to win this race. Of course you're going there to be competitive and you want to win and you want to do well, but going in, I feel like, with your mindset, is just a much healthier space. It allows you that freedom, that like, if you're having a good race, to give yourself that opportunity, to put yourself, stick your nose in it and, you know, do the best you possibly can, whereas if you find yourself early where you're not in the position you want to be, then you're beating yourself up and you don't want to be in that position, right Like. I think there's definitely some mental, some mental stuff there that I think is very positive.
Speaker 2:So oh yeah, no, absolutely, it's actually kind of interesting. So this is something that I noticed in college with a lot of runners. So I went to high school in California was a part of a very competitive area of the state and my team was also a very competitive team. So I very rarely won races and I very rarely was in the front of races. I actually had a guy on the team who used to beat me a lot and even like at state races I was used to being a little bit further back and then when I got to college, of course I was further back as well, being like NCAA D one because there are so many good runners there.
Speaker 2:But it kind of felt normal to me, like it was like oh, I'm kind of used to this, but I noticed a lot of runners who maybe came from less, less competitive areas of the country who are used to always kind of being in front and kind of running away with it. Kind of struggle in that environment because it's like wait, what's going on? I'm in 40th place and it's like, well, 40th place is actually pretty good here, but they're like I don't know, and so that is something that I'm trying to keep in mind heading into worlds. And it is a balance, because I want to have the confidence to say that I can be up towards the front, but I also know that being up towards the front is going to be a very hard thing and it's all about finding that balance of knowing that something's going to be difficult but also finding that confidence that you can handle that difficulty. I think it's a great.
Speaker 1:That's a really I don't know that's a good way to put it. Man, I want to shift gears a little bit and with the time we have, I do want to get into the course and talk a little bit about that. I know you you're obviously not there yet so you kind of, in the ways you have been able to kind of learn more about the course and from the people that have been on it or training on it now and yada, yada, yada. It's supposed to be very technical and it's supposed to be just different. Right, I've obviously learned your Strava and it seems like you were doing similar stuff as to what you were doing in the lead up to Sunapee, which was also extremely technical race, but in a different way. There's also an extremely technical race, but in a different way. Have you tweaked anything to try like, without I don't know, trying to get prepared for some of that more technical stuff? Obviously, a lot of the races that you've done, like a lot of the Cirque series stuff, has technical components to it.
Speaker 2:But it's also very runnable. What has been your take on like preparing for this technicality? Yeah, so kind of my general take and approach in this build in general is to not tweak things too much. I think training has been going really well for me and the lead up to SunP went really well. A lot within that that framework of of training, and I think there's always this temptation when you're like leveling up to a different level of competition, you should rewrite the game and do things completely different.
Speaker 2:In my opinion, I see that not working out as well, um, for athletes.
Speaker 2:Um, it's, I think, like you don't want to toss out what's been working for you.
Speaker 2:Like there may come a time when I need to like reanalyze and re-approach things, um, but since things have been going well, I've kind of been kind of been sticking with that.
Speaker 2:I have been thinking about the technicality in terms of like doing the Cirque series races again, like they're not going to be super technical all the time in those races, but they have these like pulses of super technical sections where I really like kind of hone my ability to like run on those technical components and just kind of pulsing it in here and there, and then I think technicality will be an element of this course. Like, of course, like technical proficiency is going to be important, but I also think, like a very important thing is just going to be overall fitness and speed. Um, like, I think that's probably going to be the number one determinant of like how you perform Um. So that's kind of just been what I've been sticking with and like getting better at that Um, so focusing on that and then working on more what I would consider the small elements, like technical ability, uh, a little bit less.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Now, dude, you make such a good point there, especially for the mountain classics and VKs. At the end of the day, yeah, technical proficiency is important, but it's the fittest person generally in a short race like this. I think that's probably going to do the best, more or less. If you have a ginormous engine and you're able to move better than everybody else, then as long as you don't roll your ankle, you're in, you're, you're, you're probably going to be all right.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, no, absolutely. And another point with this too is like a lot of um, like that technical proficiency, a lot of that comes down to like neuromuscular adaptations um, which can be trained with like less stimulus, like you need semi-frequent stimulus but you don't need to be doing it constantly. So a few stimuli here and there um will get you pretty far. So it hasn't been something that I've been focusing on like getting in constantly, like I'll I'll get some long runs in. Again I have, or I'll get, some long runs in over technical sections and again I've been getting in um the Cirque series races over over technical stuff, here and there Um. But other than that I've been keeping it, keeping it smooth Like I usually do. I'm still doing basically all my workouts on the track and and all that I love it.
Speaker 1:Um. One more thing training related kind of blends in with Sunapee. Um, that was a two looped course. Did you do anything particular, like special in the lead up to that to prepare, like for that I don't know for the kind of the muscular uh pounding of up down, up down, like in two loops, um, and did you apply that? I would assume you applied the same thing for this as well you applied the same thing for this as well, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I think with that is like, basically the thing to practice is like a hard downhill followed by, uh, another like uphill and a climb, again like the cirque. Series races weren't necessarily 100 perfect for that, um, but a lot of them do have uphills. Um, after a steep downhill, um, that you still kind of have to pick up and then, um, also one thing that I've been doing is, after the series races, I'll usually get a lengthier cool down in back up the mountain, um yeah, after targi I was like what the fuck?
Speaker 1:like you just ran like 2000 more feet after.
Speaker 2:Like I was like man, all right, all right. So the idea there is uh, of course, in the Cirque series races I'm sprinting down those downhills towards the finish, so I'm, I'm blasting my legs just like I'll be doing in this race, and then um, for a cool down, cause I want to get a little bit more volume on those Cirque series days, to kind of make it equivalent to a long run Um, I'll just run back up the mountain, um, on tired, fatigued legs. Add an easier effort. So everyone's clear, like, I'm not like magical and can just belt up another hill, repeat after a race. I just add an easier effort again. Just get the legs used to climbing again after, after bombing a descent, um, and so that's kind of the, the strategy I've been implementing here.
Speaker 2:Some of the. I actually wasn't able to do all that much because it was so like snowy and stuff, um, and just wasn't able to like I didn't have any trail races leading up to it, um, and so I've actually gotten a little bit more here, this like now. So I guess that would be one thing I've changed in training.
Speaker 1:Interesting, very, very cool. All right, last question what would it mean to you with this team to metal?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I think I think the past like couple, couple worlds, the the American like classic men's team hasn't hasn't really like gotten on the podium or performed to the best of what I think we're able to, and so I see it as like an opportunity to like really like establish or like reestablish the sub ultra US men as really good performers.
Speaker 2:And I think this space is really dominated a lot by other countries and countries outside the US and the US isn't necessarily looked to as a dominant force in the sub-ultra space. Like this, like this re-arrival of um us sub ultra running, and really putting the the whole sub ultra scene in the us on the map, um, not just like, not just like internationally, but in the us as well. I'm hoping it would give us like a little bit more street cred, because I feel like we're kind of the the little brothers of the trail running world and um, all right, all right, this isn't my opinion. This is how I feel we are treated in the media and in just the overall talking of of trail running. I don't think that's true. Course, I really like sub-ultra running because that's what I do and that's why I think it's cool, but I think this is an opportunity to really show what we're capable of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think you're right. I think this is an opportunity to rewrite the entire narrative and I think that from the media that I've consumed pre race, at least internationally not that there's a ton out there yet, but I don't think people really realize the squad that we're sending, dude, like, that's all. I don't think they get it, but they're going to, they're going to find out. So you know what? Mason? Uh, wish you the best of luck. I hope you have the day you absolutely deserve out there in an amazing race, and I hope it's a special day for you. Um, and yeah, man, hopefully we'll get to. Well, definitely we'll catch up after, so we'll be in touch, man.
Speaker 2:All right, sounds great. Thank you so much. Thanks, mason. Thank you, we'll see you next time.
