Do not laugh.

We admit that that Dads here at DadLabs have not always set a sterling example when it comes to health and fitness. All you have to do is look back in the DadLabs catalog to find countless episodes featuring ursine hosts lumbering around the set, pausing only to chug a beer or tuck into barbecue. We were fat. And worse than that, we used our kids as an excuse for being huge.

No time to run with little kids in the house, right?

No more excuses.

Thanks to a series of weight loss challenges here on DadLabs, we’ve shed a few pounds, committed to healthier eating habits, and found exercise routines that have been rewarding and fun. And our kids have noticed. Setting a good example for them is a great motivator.

Now we’re so motivated, in fact, that we’re going for the big one.

The Austin Marathon.

But we’re depending on you to help us accomplish our marathon goals. We want to finish the 26.2 without knee demolition or un manly tears, sure. But we also want to raise funds and awareness for two great non-profit organizations: Colin’s Hope and Hand to Hold. Starting today, we’ll be pestering you regularly (so you might as well get it over with and pledge) to make a donation to Team DadLabs. Our goal is to raise $5000 to be split evenly between the two worthy charities.

No gift is too small. Anything gets us closer to our goal. And it’s easy, just visit this page to make your tax deductible donation.

(In case you aren’t familiar with them: Hand to Hold supports parents of preemies and Colin’s Hope works for drowning prevention and water safety. Please check out their respective websites. And the great videos we’ve made in partnership with these organizations.)

We are very grateful that to the dads that have joined us for past challenges. And the training that Team DadLabs is now doing works hand in glove with our current fitness Challenge — The Marathon to Fatherhood Fitness. If you want support reaching your fitness and weight loss goals — whatever they are — please join up.

So we’re headed out on the road, with Brad, Danny and I all commencing official training this week — rigged out quite nicely by our good friends at New Balance. We’ll be updating our progress here from time to time, and more regularly on the fitness challenge forum.