Mass. runner on NYC Marathon: There's always next year

(NECN: Eileen Curran) - Julie House plays with her 8-month-old son Galen in their Sharon, Mass. home, and while she cherishes this family time -- this isn’t how planned to spend the weekend.

She was supposed to be in New York City running the Marathon on Sunday.

"It was a surprise to get into the race," House said..

House found out in April she won the lottery to get in.

Despite having given birth a few months before, she committed to the rigorous marathon training.

With previous marathons in  Boston, Chicago and Toronto, New York would have been her sixth marathon - that was until Hurricane Sandy hit.  

The storm decimated the city, particularly Staten Island where the marathon starts. Twenty people were killed in that area.

House saw the disturbing images of people without homes, power, food and water. Even before the city cancelled the marathon, she knew she couldn’t go.

"Emotionally, I just felt like it wasn’t the time to be celebrating my own personal triumph," said House. "It didn’t feel right to be handed water (during marathon) by people, when someone nearby probably needed the water."

Boston Marathon organizer Dave McGillivray is in New York, since he goes each year to check out the competition. He told NECN by phone this is a risk they all take with big outdoor sporting events.

"We can prepare as much as possible, but if the conditions are such that it’s unsafe to hold the event or inappropriate, we have to be prepared to take a pass," said McGillivray.

Some runners are angry the city waited so long to cancel the race, but House is putting it all in perspective. She said her family is safe, she’s happy and healthy and there’s always next time.

"They’ll be other races," she said. "Let’s just enjoy a quiet weekend at home."

While House plans on taking it easy this weekend, other runners plan to run. Organizers of the Anthem Manchester City Marathon in New Hampshire said they already have more than 200 runners from New York who will be taking part in their marathon on Sunday, and some are from as far away as New Zealand and Germany.