Sunrise Sisters broadcast about running and life
LANCASTER - Sunrise Sisters Podcast was born from a friendship between two runners, Kate Engelhardt and Shannon Myers, and their desire to share funny, relatable stories and conversations about life, children, marriage, friendship and more.
The two women met one chilly winter weekend morning three years ago when, by chance, they both showed up to run with a local running group.
“We were paired up as the ‘slower runners,’ ” Engelhardt said. “After two Saturdays, Shannon mustered up the courage to ask me if I would run with her in the early morning hours. I gave her one day because running that early in February is ridiculous. We had so much fun that one freezing morning quickly turned into three.”
Countless runs later, the two women have bonded over their love of running outside and catching beautiful sunrises. They run together three times a week.
“We talk and laugh, tell stories and give each other advice,” Myers said. “We have built a strong friendship over these runs.”
Engelhardt said, in many ways, their runs are therapeutic and the best part about them is laughing together.
“We can laugh even when we are both in lousy moods,” she said. “We laugh about that. And the sunrises. We both really appreciate being outside and there is something about running in the dark when it’s raining or ice cold that feels really empowering. We give each other advice. We vent. We hash things out. We laugh some more.”
The women, who both live in Lancaster and are married with children, heard about a contest last year that WBUR, Boston’s National Public Radio (NPR) news station, was having called "The Next Big Show."
“Shannon is a big fan of listening to NPR and heard about the contest,” Engelhardt said. “She had previously mentioned that we should put something together because we could create a lot of funny moments so easily.”
On the day of the contest deadline, they decided to take a quick, last minute video of themselves and submit it. They called themselves the Sunrise Sisters because, except for a few months of the year, they run during the early morning hours before and during sunrise.
“We are not afraid to stop and take pictures of sunrises during our runs,” Engelhardt said. “They are so beautiful and it’s a great excuse to stop running for a minute.”
They ended up being one of the five finalists in a contest that had 400 submissions from across the country. They didn’t end up winning, but were asked to come back to Boston and submit something else. They put together a pitch, and one of the producers suggested they turn it into a podcast.
“We always kept that on the table and would go back and forth with different ideas,” Engelhardt said. “It took us several months to hash out all the details and finally put it together such as the logo, music, parts of the show, social media, the equipment, and many other logistics that we just didn’t realize were involved. Learning how to upload our podcast to various places online was something we knew nothing about. It was a real learning process that took some time as we both have so many other regular life duties. Now that we’ve got all of those details sorted out, we are just having a lot of fun recording and laughing and coming up with new ways to interact with our listeners and take them on our runs.”
No topic is off limits. The women discuss everything from balancing work and family to fashion and wardrobe fails.
“They come from the comedy from our daily lives,” Myers said of the things they talk about in the podcasts. “We laugh at everything. It's basically what we talk about on our runs. Our most recent episode was our first advice show - it was hysterical! Kate and I have a natural rapport, we can just jump in and talk.”
The women record the Sunrise Sisters Podcast episodes at the Sterling Lancaster Cable Television station in Sterling. Having the opportunity to use the special podcaster equipment at the station and getting guidance from the staff there has helped to get them off the ground and running.
“Sterling Lancaster Community Television has been awesome,” Engelhardt said. “It has been incredible to have their help. We couldn’t have done this without them.”
Myers echoed those sentiments.
“It really is a community production," Myers said. "People have told us how funny it is. We talk about topics most people can relate to. For example, making a new friend can feel like a first date. Forgetting oranges for your kid's soccer game. Wearing a shirt the wrong way. Kate and I talk about our real lives.”
The women said they are getting good feedback about their podcast from the community and people saying how relatable it is.
“There are so many great podcasts out there,” Engelhardt said. “For Shannon and (me), we want to enjoy it and have fun. We know it will grow from there. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Initially, we were trying to figure out how to make it just right and we were dragging our feet. Podcasts are evolving. We think ours will get better each time.”
Myers said one of the biggest messages they want to share with their listeners is to get out there and try new things, things that could potentially bring you joy.
“Whether running, the NPR contest, or the podcast, we leapt in and gave it a try,” Myers said. “Don't wait to be perfect, go out there and try new things and enjoy them. Kate and I are learning along the way, trying new things. If people listen, have fun and laugh, even better because Kate and I are having a wonderful time.”
For information, email sunrisesisterspodcast@gmail.com and follow Sunrise Sisters Podcast on Facebook.