Crime & Safety

Exeter Marathon Runner 'Grateful to be Alive'

Julie Benson said she was less than a half-mile from a deadly bombing.

An Exeter woman who ran the Boston Marathon on Monday said she's "grateful to be alive" after the deadly bombing.

Julie Benson said she was less than a half-mile from the finish line when she heard a huge explosion. That explosion, which police said happened near the finish line, killed at least two people and injured dozens.

"It was so awful and scary," said Benson, who ran the race  in December.

Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Benson, a mother of two who works as a local guidance counselor, said she met a stranger who let her use his phone to call her husband and let him know she was safe.

She made it out of the area in a bus and met up with her husband in Chelmsford before heading back home to Exeter.

Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I'm very shaken up but so grateful to be alive," she said.

Click here for updates on the bombing.

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