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Dunkirk Resident Ties Knot At Finish Line

Susan and Michael Carpenter pictured last month at the second annual Amish Country Running Festival. Photo by Mary Heyl

RANDOLPH — “They say it happens when you’re not expecting it, and that’s absolutely true,” Susan (Corbett) Carpenter said of her whirlwind love story that ended with a wedding at the finish line of the second annual Amish Country Running Festival last month.

In September 2018, she and her now husband, Michael Carpenter of Randolph, were reunited at the same race after more than 25 years apart.

“In 1991, Michael and I were floor mates in tower two at Buffalo State College,” Susan said. “We lived on the same dorm floor but opposite ends of the hallway. I never really hung out with the boys at the end of the hall, but I remember that he and his roommate were from Randolph.”

At the end of that academic year, Michael transferred out on a scholarship to another college, while Susan stayed at Buffalo State College. The two would not see each other again until September 28, 2018.

“Last year was the first Amish Country Running Fest in Randolph,” Susan explained. “I’d been running for about seven years and racing competitively for the past three years. I had recently gotten out of an on-and-off-again three-year relationship and was just focusing on my running. On my way to the race, which is about a 50-minute drive from Dunkirk, I started thinking, ‘Oh, I wonder whatever happened to Mike and Brad’– just to occupy my mind as I was driving along.”

When Susan arrived in Randolph, her GPS took her to the race, but to an entrance that was already blocked off, forcing her to drive around the block.

“Where I had to park at East Randolph United Methodist Church, there was a man directing traffic and he said to pull up next to that car where that gentleman is,” Susan recalled. “I pulled up and over, and the gentleman was bent over adjusting his shoes, and I said, ‘Do you have enough room?’ He looked up and smiled, and it was one of those moments where you study somebody’s face and think, ‘Gosh, I know that person!’ I said, ‘Are you Mike?’ He looked at me the same startled way, and I said, ‘We went to college together!'”

The two began talking, and Susan learned that Michael had been in Phoenix, Arizona but had been back in the area since 1996. She learned that he has four children (Nick, Molly, Corin and Ryan) and had been widowed. The two discovered several commonalities, including a shared love of running and daughters named Molly.

“We talked and caught up, and he said that he’s a soccer coach and he comes to Dunkirk a lot,” said Susan. “He had been coaching right behind the church I attend (Dunkirk’s Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church). Our lives have interacted constantly but we’d never run into each other!”

That day, the two ran the 10K together. Susan, who was faster in the beginning of the race, missed the turn around by about a quarter of a mile and eventually caught up with Michael.

“We crossed the finish line together. Actually, if you look at the official record, I beat him by one second,” Susan laughed. “We exchanged phone numbers that day, and I said, ‘If you’re ever in Dunkirk again and want to catch up, let me know!'”

Michael contacted Susan the next day to let her know he had signed up for the Ellicottville Halloween Half Marathon, which Susan planned to participate in, too. “I said, ‘Gee, I get to see you twice in 25 years!’ Michael said, ‘About that, I’d like to take you out for your birthday,’ which is October 15. We had our first official date, and we’ve been together ever since!”

On March 12, Michael proposed to Susan at a Buffalo Sabres game, and she happily said “yes.”

“A few weeks later, we got together with Mark Wilson, director of the Amish Country Running Festival, and he said, ‘What if you got married at this year’s race?’ And that’s exactly what we did!”

On Sept. 29, Michael and Susan participated in the second annual race, along with their children and many of their friends, whom Susan fondly refers to as the “I Do Crew.”

“Michael only lives about two miles from the race line, so when it was over, we came home, cleaned up, and I wouldn’t let him see me after that,” Susan explained. “I went to the church (East Randolph United Methodist Church) and walked from there to the finish line while the DJ piped in the music for us. My daughters escorted me to the finish line, and we said ‘I do’ under the finish line banner.”

The couple enjoyed live music by area band The Freeze, cupcakes from Ecklof Bakery in Jamestown, pretzels from Mazurek’s Bakery in Buffalo, and beverages from Southern Tier Brewery, one of the race-day sponsors. “People from all over the country and Canada who participated in the race stayed and signed our jumbo wedding card,” said Susan. “It was one big party in the street all day.”

Susan and her daughters, Natalie, 14, and Molly, 11, now live in Randolph with Michael and his family. “We call ourselves the Brady Bunch,” Susan laughed. “He has four children. Nick is 22, Molly is 20, Corin is 17, and Ryan is 14. His daughters are away at college, so it’s the six of us living together at home.” Susan is still a familiar face in Dunkirk, as she continues to work there at Verizon Wireless, while Michael works as network administrator for information services in the Jamestown Public Schools system.

“There were all sorts of times when we would have crossed paths over the years, but we never actually did,” Susan reflected. “It’s sort of a miracle, when you think about it. There were so many little coincidences that we always just say it was meant to be.”

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