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Courtney Coppinger - Pre 2025 World Trail Championship Interview · The Steep Stuff Podcast

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It's time.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: We are live.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Courtney Coppinger.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Steep Stuff podcast.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: How's it going?
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Great, yeah, it's good to be here.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: We're in Europe, just like probably all of us, and enjoying my life.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, what were you doing earlier?
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: You were crewing right for someone.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, I am actually currently in the middle of a whole day crewing and cheering on at the Wild Struble race by UTMB in Kranz Montana, Switzerland.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: My partner's brother is running today, right now and then I also jumped in and helped crew Aaron Clark, who I'm sure you know.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah she just pulled off second place in the 70K and she just finished an hour ago and now I'm here.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Wow, what a what a day.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: How were uh, how are you feeling?
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I know you just raced what a week and a half ago at Cirque Basin.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Obviously some travel.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: What are?
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: How's the body feeling pre-race and what's the stoke level like for you?
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think I'm feeling really good.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: I started getting to this place after a basin where I was like, uh, needing like to come off of these high stimulus weeks of training.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: So the the point of a basin was it was wrapped in like a 20 day kind of hard training block and I didn't like rest for a basin.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: A basin was supposed to be a workout.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Hit it hard after, after what I called my hardest workout on the trail ever, three days, two days before that, um, and I like did a basin, tried to do a longer on the next day, you know, came off it next last, this last week, and was like, oh my gosh, like I need a little bit of encouragement in my training because I just feel like I'm in it, which I feel like a lot of people probably were at that point, and then being, you know, in Colorado, like elevation, and then I'd go back to Boulder and it'd be still 85, 90 degrees, I just felt like everything I was doing was really average and nothing looked really shiny and nothing felt really good was really average and nothing looked really shiny and nothing felt really good.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Um, but I knew like the point of my training block was like, okay, stay true to you and don't compare yourself to others Like whatever works best for you.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: You know you might me and my coach work well together.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: And so I was just like really trying to hone in on that and stay true to that.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: And then I was like, okay, really looking forward to Europe, I'm coming to Europe, I get to Europe and, yeah, the Stoke immediately came back because sea level, 60 degree temps, perfect trails, not technical, you know climbing, amazing stuff.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: And I had a run yesterday and it just like it all came back and I'm like, yep, you're fit, you're ready, you're going to do it.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: But I kind of got away from that for a few moments where I was like, oh, am I even fit, am I even ready?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: And had that, like you know, two week out like freak out.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: But you know, now we're like whatever 10 days or less than 10 days, I'm feeling really good.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, that was a long winded way answer to say the stoke has returned.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: I think I needed to get to Europe for that and get excited.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I love to hear it.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I love to hear it.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: I'm glad things.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it can be tough in some of those training blocks trying to.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: It's funny you say something like this it didn't look shiny, or this didn't look shiny and you need something to.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I feel like there's those little mental gains in training if you have a really good day out.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: It just gives you a little bit of a boost.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: So it's uh, it's interesting to hear.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: It's um, yeah, I feel like everybody kind of goes through it, which is kind of cool.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Um, all right, let me shift gears a little bit.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: When are you headed out, are you?
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Uh, you're in crowns montana now.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: When do you head out to confrank?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: um on monday, monday, flying to barcelona training up yeah, have you.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: um, I feel like it's kind of cool for the mountain classic distance because it seems like the short trail and the long trail are just kind of gnarly and really wild, Whereas like there's actually been races before on the um on the actual like track for, or course I should say for, the uptown Um, have you been able to like see it in video or preview it or kind of like?
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Do some due diligence on it, kind of before pre-race?
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, there's definitely videos out there.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: And then now I have my little friends, my little Sims, out there, you know, recarrying the course for me that may or may not be doing those races or other races, but are running that course and it's exactly what I thought basically, like so fast, um, treadmill, uphill, treadmill style, um, yeah, which is so different than the short and long, and so I think it'd be really fun.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: That race suits me really well.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Um, and then the technical long trail, short and short stuff will be really fun.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: We'll suit me well for spectating.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Fair enough.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: It kind of sucks that it's like the last day is the up-down, whereas if you're in the vertical or if you're even in the short trail, you kind of get a little bit of time to go spectate, which you can spectate as well too.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But you also still have this looming idea in the back of your mind that you have to go to the depths of your soul in a few days, which is good, yeah.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Although I think we have it best because everyone will be finished.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: The classic is the most spectator friendly because there's several parts where we're going back and looping and so everyone's going to be out there.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So the energy for that race, I think, is going to be so high and I run off energy really well, rather, like I won't be.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I'm trying not to be nervous or like get in my head before, so I'll just go out and support my teammates that week and then I think everyone's going to go wild on Sunday because it's the last day.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: So that's how I'm framing it.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: You know what's crazy too, and like I'm not setting any expectations at all, I just knowing the women on this team like there's a there's, there's a probability of a metal there.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: So I feel like, you know, from a meddling perspective and just from just in general energy perspective, that makes it really special.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: I think it's going to be a very special day.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: I think it will very 50, 50.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Some people have changed stuff and some people seem to be very um, you know, do what brought you here in a lot of ways.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, uh, yes, we changed things.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: We went really specific for this race, uh, for like an eight week training block, um in Colorado.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: You know, I like was really purposeful of like changed my race schedule around for the summer and travel schedule so that I was in Colorado doing the work, um, and we picked out really specific workouts, really specific routes, that um, that were similar to the course, um, because basically it's like two 20 minute climbs that like, uh, you know, 13.5% grade or something averaging.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: And so we just found segments like that in Boulder and just like rep them.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Um, the hardest workout that I had mentioned before, that I did before a basin, was a circuit that we created, um in Boulder.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: That was it's basically like a mile and a half and half of it's uphill, half it's downhill, at the exact gradient, um, as the world's course.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: And I did three of those all out and I mean I was shattered by the third one, but, um, yeah, I just wanted to get really familiar with that type of grade.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: And then I think it's really special to be training at elevation and in Boulder, where it's sneaky fitness, it's like, yeah, we're at 6,000, 5,500 feet, climbing up to 7,000 every day or more, um, and so, like those efforts felt really hard and I think I'm going to come down here and then I'm going to be like locked in at that gradient and like it's going to be feeling a little bit easier, um, just to move a bit faster than I was in Colorado.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: So I think I'm really excited from that specific training block, uh, to to see what that you know how that executes on race day and we also did we changed the race schedule a bit to do races that were similar to the style of racing.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: So I went over to Sylvania and did the world cup weekend, the finals weekend, which was two days of racing One was an uphill race and the second was a classic and then did a basin, which is more classic style, and so being able to get on courses like that where you're running similar paces and similar efforts for similar time you know they're all about an hour to hour and a half races that was really helpful too to be like, oh, okay, I'm going to come here and be ready and excited for that.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: So cool.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about that Slovenian race?
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: I know, like the trail team was out there, andy was out there, there was a good, like American representation.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: What did you enjoy more?
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Did you like the up down or the vertical Like?
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: What was the style like, yeah, talk about that.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I had not raced any of the world cup races and this was the final, so really stacked with some awesome European competition, who I will see again next weekend in Confranc.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: And I was a little bit nervous because I'd never done a true up uphill hill race.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: And so the uphill was day one and I finished and you know I hung in there, I got eighth.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: I was like really proud of myself.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: The goal was top 10.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: And, um, yeah, I felt like I competed well and like moved well, um, but I was really excited for the next day because the next day had downhill at a bit more, yeah, like runnable grades, less hikey stuff and um, and so I was really looking forward to that.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Plus, I am somebody that is a really heavy responder to a two day stimulus, so having the race on the second day usually meant I felt better that day, um, and I feel like that's my advantage as, as an athlete, is a lot of you know, some people don't respond well to that and a lot of people probably stepped on the line tired on Sunday, um, whereas I was like ready to chomp down and like that Sunday race was the big uh mindset shift and kind of career shift for me, because this whole year, and really for a lot of my career, I've raced from the back and just been like, okay, I'm going to work my way up.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Uh, the Shemorna Gora race was, you know, like the course records like 48 minutes, so it's fast, you don't have a lot of time to make decisions and you have to, like, put yourself in the race if you want to be in the race.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: And so the gun went off and within the first five to six minutes I had made the conscious decision.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: I was like I'm going to go for it today, like I'm going for it and like that's my decision, I'm not thinking anything else.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: And so I battled it out with, uh, you know, some really excellent competition and it ultimately came down to, like me and two Kenyans that were like kind of going back and forth and, um, yeah, by the end I was like this is crazy, like I am now running at the top and with these girls that I a year ago, two, three, four years ago would never have thought I could.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Um, and I, and I started to feel my strengths come through in that classic style racing right.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: It was like I could really make up ground on the runnable uphills and the and the techie downhills and, and I was just stoked on it and so it was cool to see me finish third in that race, coming off the eighth place finished the day before and, um, you know, it was just really cool.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Like a lot of the Europeans were like dang and I was like, yeah, I like this, this is my style, so it was a really cool weekend.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: You know what on that topic and congratulations, by the way.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Just amazing performances all around.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: But for you being like responding really well to two day stimulus, is that like from your track and field background, or is that genetic Like?
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: What do you?
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: What do you think that is?
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Dude, I don't know, you should bring Matt again on the podcast, for that he's.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: He's really good at nerding out on all this stuff.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: But, um, I I don't know.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: I just think some athletes respond better and some don't.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: I noticed it at first when I did started doing stage racing.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Um, I had run trans Rockies and it's, you know, like a six day stage race, and I kept feeling better every day and everybody else not a lot of other people started feeling worse, but I noticed other people were feeling good too, and I'm like this is weird.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Um, and so I'm actually really looking forward to, like you know, obviously, worlds is one day, but the golden trail final the schedule just came out and the female prologue is Friday and the female final is Saturday, and so I get that double stimulus, which I'm like, yes, let's go.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: So cool, so cool.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Um all right, let's shift gears to a basin.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Uh, was that I get you know what?
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I didn't even think about this.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Was this your first Cirque series race or second?
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: It was.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they had reached out after Sonopene.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: We're like, hey, we'd love to have you in a race.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: And I was like, why have I never done one of these races?
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: They're so up my alley, yeah.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: So much fun, right Like it's just it's a giant party, especially a base, and I feel like that's while I hate the high altitude component of it, cause it's just like kind of brutal, um, and it's the most, I would say that's probably the most runnable course.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: But that said, like so much fun, so much stoke, you had obviously another podium finish there.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: What did you think?
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: What was your takeaway from that?
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Obviously, you said it was like a you know more of a workout for you, but maybe talk about that.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I finished the race.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll back up the first 30 to minutes.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: I literally, for the first time in like a year, year and a half, like I haven't.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I haven't had this mindset for a long time.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: But I was like, should I just step off the course?
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Should I quit?
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: This feels so bad, um, and the climb was only like I don't know 50, 55 minutes and I felt like truly poop for 40 of the minutes.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: And then I kind of came around and then I started.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: I was in like six or seven place.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Truly, I was like, well, this is the point, you know, just a hard workout, whatever minutes.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Like my body kind of relaxed into it or I don't know what happened.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I just felt better.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: And so then I started moving and then I could see Alexa and she was in second and I could see Rena in first and I was like, okay, I guess now I have to race this because I'm in the race, um, and so I caught Alexa and then jammed out on the downhill, which was really fun, and I crossed the finish line and Matt actually my coach had come and watched and I like ran right to him and I was like I really feel a difference by being rested versus not rested, like that was an insane difference.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: And of course we're at really high altitude, so that's another difference.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: But you know I had done GoPro games, which was at high altitude, and I had raced twice in one day there and and done fairly well and did not feel that in my legs because I had been rested.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: And you know he was like, yeah, that's the point, and I had written in my Strava, I think that day like curse you, matt, but you're also genius, because I know I was going to come off of this and get really fit.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: And it's true, you know, like I wear an aura ring and it's been cool to see even the like bio, like the data, the biomarker data, like kind of uh, respond really well to some high altitude stimulus and like a big training block.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: So I know it was like worth it.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: And and I have said like maybe five or six times that I'll never do a basin again, but I hope no one's listening.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: That is on Cirque series, because the race but it was so hard.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: I don't know it was so fun though, so yeah, good vibes.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, just felt horrible, so next time maybe I'll rest for it.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I gotcha, I gotcha.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Is there a chance we see you in 2026?
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Maybe I mean, depending on what the schedule looks like at some other like Cirque races, just because I don't know.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: I love the mountain classic distance and to me I think, from in the purest form, I think, the Cirque series, I can really bring it as far as like the premier North, like if you want to race mountain classics, like that's the way to do it in North America.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: It's so true.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and yeah, you're right.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Race directors, now that you're listening, I do would love to go back and do more um, but I do also want to, I think, do more the world cup races too, because the european classic style racing is like really cool too.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: It felt like a glorified cross-country race where there was just like so many people on course cheering.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Cirque series is really cool because there's so many people on course running um, but the european ones really bring out the people so I want to do a little bit of both next year, for sure and prioritize that fan base.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: That's what we need in the states.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: More is like we got to figure out this fan base situation.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's coming.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: As the sport continues to grow and as we get more um, just more media, more everything in the space, I think we'll have more.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: This is like a topic I've been like asking everyone about.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: It's like how do we get a fan base, like get the people out with it?
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I don't necessarily know about the chainsaw situation and then screaming la la leon, course, but like something american, like something cool, I don't know.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: We'll figure it out.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely, as the numbers increase, and then, like just signing up for races, it'll come yeah, yeah, all right, let me shift gears back to worlds.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Um, I've asked you this question before.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if your why has changed, or what your approach, or if your approach to it has changed, but this is not your first time representing the Stars and Stripes in general, but also but it is your first time North American wise, for I guess mountain running representing the Stars and Stripes.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: What does that mean to you?
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think it, I, the, the team that we're bringing is by far the best team we've ever brought.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: And so what it means to me is like getting to be part of this movement where one like this sport is mattering and people are noticing and getting to do that and represent, representing your country, while bringing like a team that you believe in is like so rad.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: And so I think I'm just super excited to like really put away, like I'm thinking like there's no, there's no other expectation other than like getting the U S to be the best that they can be.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: And so you know, like the roommate list just came out and and the team housing stuff, and I'm just like looking through it.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: I'm like just came out and in the team housing stuff and I'm just like looking through it.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I'm like I know personally most of these people and it's just going to be so cool to cheer them on as one team together, and so and I know everybody else feels the same and that sentiment and um, you know like, yeah, of course I cheer for my friends when I'm out, but, like you know, in the states and in normal times, normal racing, I'm cheering so hard for my Brooks teammates and we have a really good team camaraderie there, and so now it's just really cool to like get to put all that together in a way that's like, oh, these are the best of the best of all the brands in the U?
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: S and so yeah, and just really looking forward to having that team culture and atmosphere and and knowing that we can up-level a lot of the Europeans.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: I love it, who'd you get as a roommate.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, anna, did you really?
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: I'm so stoked.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, let's go All right, cool, cool, cool.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was funny.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I was talking to Noah yesterday and he got Michelino and I was like good luck, nah, shout out Michelino.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Anyway, no, one of the things that was really cool to me.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: One of my favorite humans in the sport, just one of my favorite humans in general, is Cam Smith, and I love to see Cam take on this leadership role where he helped put together this camp for you guys and everybody came out to the camp in BV.
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Can you talk about that experience and just how special that was from a team building perspective?
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I had never met Cam before either and I had heard that he was incredible and you know, it proved to be true.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: He was so intentional on it in a way that didn't feel forced or like super structured, but it was like we're intentionally putting time together to hang out, and I thought it was just really cool how there was no egos, everybody was just super excited to get to know each other.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I had never met Mason either, and he is a hoot and a half and like I feel like I just bonded with all of them so deeply and and yeah, and then, like even getting to share that with, you know, my Brooks teammates, taylor, sydney and Anna, who I'd already been close to, I feel like we only grew, got to grow closer and strengthen that team bond too, and so, yeah, I don't know, I think it was really cool that we got to make the time to do that and put that together.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: And I, you know other like European countries I noticed they like have little team camps where they all like bring everybody out and the U?
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: S doesn't do that, um, which is okay, Um, but I think it was cool that cam took that next step to be like, hey, yeah, let's do that, and so I think he should.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: That will be paving away for the future, right, like we should definitely always do that and try to increase that camaraderie, because now I'm going over and know Cam and Mason so much better, and Tyler I had never met Tyler too, and even his family and wife, who was going to be over there too, and it was just super cool to be like, oh yeah, okay, now I have even more people that that I know, that you know are in my corner and already family.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's so.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's like you said, it's so special and I think that camaraderie and just like the team building aspect of it, I think that like that cohesiveness, like really will make a difference it's one thing to just show up and get to meet everybody and say, hey, you know, good to see you and stuff like that, but it's another thing to actually get to spend time with one another and bond.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I think that that will create something special on race day.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Um, I want to talk about brooks.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: It's really cool that like there is such representation from the brooks team here, like on the like, not just in the North American world scene but also abroad, to like Remy LaRue and others, like there's a strong Brooks presence like at worlds.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about that?
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I know there's been massive investment really like in the over the last few years into this like sub ultra and just short trail category, but it's really shown this year.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, like sub old, the Brooks sub ultra team is really popping off.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, of course, the ultra team too, um, but they had historically been or you know other people similar, like podcasts or even competitors that have said like, wow, it's really cool to see you guys all out here and crushing it, um and it, and it seems like you guys like each other, you know, um, I had a even a lot of like friends kind of asked me, like you know a little coy, like hey, like you know, like is Brooks, you know, accepting any other people?
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Or, uh, I would love to be part of Brooks.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: It seems like a cool, like a cool team and and it's really cool to be able to stand here and say, yeah, like there, that's like the best team I've I've had in my professional experience, uh, running and it yeah, and I think I had a call last week or a week before with our sports marketing person and he, you know, I, we basically reflected on the year and I I literally was tearing up in the call because I said and I didn't know that I was going to sign with you guys and find like two of my best friends, like Sydney and Ana, have become so close and people that I I hold very near and dear to my heart now and, um, it's really cool to like see that come through, like in more than just running Right.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: It's like these are people in Hillary too, I mean, I've gotten really close with her and so many others but like, specifically, to have really close friends on a team where you're like want their best interests.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: And it's like I felt it at Sunapee, where we stood up, we stood on line and we looked at each other like let's go get it.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: You know, it wasn't like, oh my gosh, like I'm going to like try to beat Ana or whatever.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: It's like, no, like Ana, I want you winning this thing and I'm going to be like right there to push you.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: And and that's kind of what happened and that's what I want to happen next Sunday is like, yeah, I do believe that Anna could go and win this whole thing.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Um, and I hope she doesn't listen to this and I hope this doesn't give her pressure, but, um, you know, but like, I really believe in her and I want to be that teammate that can help and roommate and best friend that can help her.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Get here there, you know.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: And so, yeah, I don't know, I'm just such a person that is so centered around friendship and Brooks has given me that and they've done a really good job to foster that with like team camps and team accommodations and making sure that it's a place that everybody you know feels like they're bringing something to the team.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: I asked Jordan a bit like why he invested in the people he invested in and why they kind of did this specific set of contracts for these sub ultra people, and he was like we just wanted the right people.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: It wasn't about where we thought you could perform, we wanted the right people, and I think that that speaks volumes.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Amazing it's.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: You know there's so much to say to that.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: I think the most important thing too is like, yeah, running's great and running's like the reason we're all here in a lot of ways, but at the same time, like I think like the friendships and like that's the stuff you'll have for the rest of your life.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: You know, like those are the experiences with the people that really matter.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: It's not so much the running's great, but like it's.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: It's not an afterthought, but the friendships are probably the most important part, in my opinion.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and those are the.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: These are the girls and guys that are going to pick me up after a hard race or a hard day and be like hey, like I believe in you, and when I hear them say that, to me it means more than like anything else.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm like okay, yeah, you're right, I'm, I'm better like or I can you know, whatever it is so so cool, so cool.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: So are you hanging out in Europe until the golden trail final then?
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, here a month.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: I'm so jealous man, what do you got like any specific places you're going to try and hit and like see and do?
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: or like what's the?
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: What's the plan?
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we'll do Pyrenees for a bit, obviously for Worlds, and then go hang in Barcelona with my parents for a few days, send them back stateside and then train up to uh France to visit Jess and Jim.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Actually, um, one of my best friends and so I visited them last year.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Um, around this time we did we actually all did Wild Struble and then I went up to them in Beaufort and visited them.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: So go back there and then go over to uh Lake Garda area.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: My partner's actually a paraglider and there's really big paragliding obviously all in Europe, but he's doing a specific course over Lake Garda and so I'll hang there for a bit and scope out the course and I know a lot of, a lot of like us are doing the same kind of migration pattern and so, um, hang out with, with friends and and, like I don't know, I'll go on trail.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: It was like sprinkles on top for my year.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: It's like fricking mid October and I started racing in April, so it'll be fun, but like, yeah, I'm, I'm, yeah, it'll be, it'll be good, do you, uh, is that probably the plan after October?
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: then Big rest, relax and reset for next year.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I really need to.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: I need to think about it.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: I you know, like it's kind of time of the year too where you're thinking about next year and talking contracts with whatever and trying to figure out what my plan for the next like right now.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Like I, this year has given me the opportunity to now think two, three, four years ahead in terms of running, and so now I like really need to set a time to think about that and kind of go to the drawing board.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: I think worlds has been a prior such a priority that I haven't been able to really think past that in Golden Trail Final.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: But I'm sure something will appear and I'll figure it out.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I won't say too much.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: But there also might be a really cool project that we're working on with Brooks for early December.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: So that's all I'll say.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: All right, cool, cool.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: I, like you planting the seed, appreciate that All right.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Last question, maybe the most important one what would it mean to you to win a medal with this team?
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I mean this team, it's just these girls on this team are I couldn't pick a better group of four sub ultra classic style racers?
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Like I really could not.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: And so I know that, like I literally know that the other three could go and win individual titles.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: I don't personally like believe that I could, and that's okay, Like that's a whole other conversation, but do I think it can be like behind them and supporting them and like right there and be in the top mix of people?
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: Yes, and so it was really cool for me to be like in such belief that they could go out and do that and us three collectively, or us four collectively, going to get a medal.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Like like I have never been so sure of a team and yeah, and so that's what it means to me is just like I don't know like everything, because this the best, this is the best group that I could put together for that and, honestly, the best course for this group.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Like I'm like oh my gosh, Lauren, Allie, Anna, what, this is perfect for us.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Let's go girls.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Killers, just killers, it's going to be.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: I can't wait.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, it's a killer team and I'm just so lucky to be part of it so cool.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Well, Courtney, I'm wishing you the absolute best of luck.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I hope you guys have an amazing day out there.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, that's all I'll put it at Like, I'm just so excited to follow along and I'm such a fan no-transcript.