Luke Macfarlane Running NYC Marathon for Diabetes Awareness in Honor of Partner Hig Roberts’ Late Brother (Exclusive)

The 'Bros' star and his partner opened up to PEOPLE about running the New York City Marathon to raise money and awareness for type 1 diabetes

Luke Macfarlane is gearing up for the 2023 New York City Marathon to raise awareness for people living with diabetes.

The Bros star and his partner Hig Roberts, sports agent and former alpine skier, recently opened up to PEOPLE about the emotional reason they’re tackling their first marathon together.

“Never thought I would do it, to tell you the truth,” Macfarlane says jokingly about the race.

The 43-year-old actor says that while it’s fun for them to share this physical goal, the pair — who recently welcomed their first child — is participating in honor of Roberts’ late brother.

“Getting to know Hig and his family was a lot about learning family history, like you do, including about his younger brother who passed away seven years ago from type 1 diabetes,” he tells PEOPLE. “So we're running this marathon to raise money for type 1 diabetes.”

Roberts’ younger brother, Murphy, was just a preteen when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes — which means his body created very little or no insulin, requiring medication. Signs of type 1 diabetes in children tend to develop quickly, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms include weight loss, extreme hunger, increased thirst and frequent urination, fatigue, and behavior changes.

“My little brother Murphy was just 11 and it's a pretty cruel disease as a young person to be diagnosed with,” Roberts, 32, tells PEOPLE. “He had to live basically getting injections of insulin every two hours during the day.”

Related: 'Teen Mom' 's Mackenzie McKee Running NYC Marathon to Prove She 'Can Do Anything' with Type 1 Diabetes

In August 2016, Murphy died at age 22 after he had diabetic seizure while on a hike, fell and sustained a head injury. The accident was tragic and hard on Roberts, but pushed him and his family to “join charities and fundraise money for finding a cure for this disease.”

Now as he kicks off November's Diabetes Awareness Month, Roberts, his twin sister Cassady, and Macfarlane will run the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov. 5 as members of the charity team Beyond Type 1.

The nonprofit was co-founded in 2015 by Nick Jonas — who also has diabetes — to unite the global diabetes community and provide solutions to improve people’s lives through “platforms, programs, resources and grants,” according to its website. The organization features members of the type 1 diabetes community to demonstrate how it’s possible to “live beyond” the disease.

“I think as a family, we just try to remember Murphy through things like this and connect with the type 1 community,” Roberts says. “And this organization raises a lot of awareness for helping young kids who have diabetes stay active and live normal lives, which tends to not be the case. So the people we're actually running the marathon with, I would say over 50% of them are type 1 diabetics, which is pretty remarkable.”

Related: Stars Who've Run the New York City Marathon

“And Luke has been very gracious to use his network to help us connect with as many people as possible and fundraise as much money as possible,” he adds.

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Macfarlane announced on his funraise.org page that he was running the marathon and raising money for Beyond Type 1, encouraging his followers to help donate in honor of Murphy. The Hallmark actor’s goal is set to $10,000, which he’s already surpassed ahead of Sunday’s race.

“It's an honor to recognize Hig's brother, somebody I never got to meet but somebody that's so important to Hig and his journey and development,” Macfarlane says. “Just to get a chance to honor him and show my love for Hig and his family.”

While this will be the couple’s first marathon, Roberts says his sister Cassady has run five marathons herself, all of which have been related to raising money for diabetes research and outreach.

Macfarlane and Roberts say they’re excited to do the same, and have some fun in the process.

“Hig and I are very competitive with each other so I think we're going to definitely push each other to achieve the highest possible race time, let's be honest,” he says.

“But the goals are to finish strongly, don't injure ourselves too much and let the professionals really take the 1, 2, 3 spots. I don't think we're going to be breaking any records,” Macfarlane adds with a laugh.

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