Canceling the 2012 New York City Marathon because of Hurricane Sandy cost the event’s parent organization $18.9 million, but its insurer paid $15 million to help cover the losses, according to final financial documents obtained by Runner’s World Newswire.

The documents, filed with the Internal Revenue Service and therefore public records, are the first to provide details of the financial toll taken on marathon parent New York Road Runners by the unprecedented cancellation.

The 2012 running of the world’s largest marathon was called off two days before it was scheduled to occur, and five days after Sandy severely damaged parts of the city and surrounding areas, leaving roads, buildings, and subways flooded and millions without power. Thousands of out-of-town runners who were already in the city were stuck with the cost of transportation and accommodations for a race that wasn’t run.

The $15 million payoff came from the insurance broker Lloyd’s; the amount has not previously been definitively disclosed. The payoff came after more than a month of closed-door negotiations, as Newswire reported in December 2012. State officials had to step in to mediate, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Once that money was in hand, and after other costs and income were accounted for, NYRR finished 2012 with a loss of $4.6 million, which it was able to cover from its cash reserves, the documents show. In the preceding three years, the organization had brought in a total of about $6 million more than it spent.

“The bottom line is that, as a nonprofit, we’re always looking to balance out our revenues and expenses. Our budget was what our budget was based on projected revenues and expenses around the marathon, and obviously all that changed,” said the organization’s vice president, Chris Weiller.

About half of the more than 50,000 runners who were registered for 2012 requested refunds, accounting for almost all the $18.9 million in losses. Those who opted to defer to last year’s, this year’s, and 2015’s runnings still had to pay the entry fees, so no additional financial impacts are expected, and Weiler said the NYRR remains on solid footing.

“We’re in great shape financially and organizationally and vision-wise to move forward and continue to build the running community in New York, as well as a bigger marathon,” Weiller said.

The marathon accounts for a third of NYRR’s annual revenues of about $60 million.

NYRR president and chief executive officer Mary Wittenberg got $155,000 in bonuses in 2012, the IRS records show. Her total salary, including bonuses, incentive payments, deferred compensation, and other benefits, came to $569,472.

The bonus in the year the marathon was canceled was lower than the $170,000 bonus Wittenberg received the year before. Weiller said the reason for that was contractual, and unrelated to the events surrounding Sandy.

The NYRR also contributed just more than $1 million to Hurricane Sandy relief, according to the documents.

Another category of expenses revealed by the newly available records reflects a city decision in 2012 to charge organizers of sporting events on city streets for police details. The total bill from the New York Police Department to NYRR for its slate of running events in 2012 came to $2.4 million.

“It’s a significant expense,” said Weiller.

He said the NYRR is looking for other sources of revenues besides registration fees to cover the additional cost. In October, Tata Consulting Services replaced ING as title sponsor of the marathon. The 8-year deal with Tata, for an undisclosed amount, also includes sponsorship of other NYRR races as well as its youth programs.

“The first thing on our mind is always to keep the races as affordable as we can,” Weiller said. “We want people running.”

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