Boston Marathon
“Having a supportive partner can really make or break the whole experience.”
Rob Lea (left) and Carolina Gleich (right) pose for a photo after Gleich finished the Boston Marathon. Carolina Gleich
As more than 30,000 runners took on the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon course, spectators lined the route with creative signs. When Rob Lea showed up to cheer on his wife, he had one main goal: make her laugh.
Wearing bright yellow running shoes and little else besides a Speedo, Lea held an artfully-placed sign that read, “Run faster or I drop the sign.”
“I was there to support her and try to get a little chuckle out of her,” Lea said of his wife, Caroline Gleich. “And if I could get a couple other laughs from other people and give them a light-hearted moment in a long race, then all the better.”
Lea stood atop a pedestrian bridge near the four-mile mark in Ashland for more than two hours, cheering on runners as they passed by.
“Especially in the fourth mile, there’s still a lot of anxiety as you’re settling into the pace and settling into the race,” Gleich said. “At that point, it was a really nice place for [Lea] to be there, because it helps to lighten the mood and provide a moment of reprieve.”
The Utah-based couple shares a passion for endurance sports. Lea is an open-water swimmer who has crossed the English Channel and is working toward completing the Oceans Seven challenge — a series of long-distance swims across major channels, all done in just a Speedo. Together, they’ve climbed Mount Everest, Gleich said.
After racing the Boston Marathon for the first time, Gleich has now completed nine marathons.
“I feel incredibly grateful to have my husband there, cheerleading and spectating,” she said. “He was putting his whole heart into it.”
Gleich said she once completed a ski mountaineering race without Lea in the crowd — and the difference was noticeable.
“It gives you such a boost,” she said. “The right partner can really lighten the load.”
So, did Lea’s sign actually make runners pick up the pace? Not exactly, he said.
“I was actually surprised how many people actually asked me to drop the sign for them,” Lea said.
And some began walking as soon as they read the sign, he added.
“I just had a lot of hooping and hollering and just a lot of laughing,” Lea said. “I hope it was a good way to lighten the mood for folks in a really tough race.”
Lea said his own experience with endurance challenges — sometimes swimming for up to 14 hours at a time — has shown him how valuable even a brief mental break can be.
Carolina Gleich (left) and Rob Lea (right) before racing. – Carolina Gleich
“Just having something to take your mind off of what you’re doing, even for 30 seconds or a mile, can be a huge benefit to reset your mind and keep you going,” he explained. “I hope I was able to do that for some folks.”
While waiting for Gleich, Lea watched top competitors pass by, including American runner Jess McClain, who later commented on an Instagram post about his outfit, saying it had her laughing in the early miles.
“If I’m totally honest, I didn’t really think through the fact that if I got there at the start, that I would literally be standing half naked in front of probably 25 to 30,000 people,” Lea said.
The post quickly gained traction online, racking up more than 16,000 likes on Gleich’s account, which Lea attributed to the sheer number of runners who saw him along the course.
“It’s pretty hard to miss me,” he said.
Lea said this form of over-the-top support is typical in their relationship.
“We try to show up for the other person to lighten the load for them on these big endurance challenges that can be so difficult, so long, so monotonous in a lot of ways,” he said.
“Having a supportive partner can really make or break the whole experience,” Gleich added.
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