SOUTHBURY - Six-year-old Southbury resident Bobby Zabarsky plans to join nearly 3,000 runners Saturday, October 14, to complete the 26.2 miles of the Hartford Marathon. While most other entrants will run all 26.2 miles in one day, Bobby expects to reach his goal after logging the first 25 miles in shorter segments during August, September and October.

On the actual marathon day, the kindergartner will run the last mile and receive a Hartford Marathon T-shirt and a finisher's medal.

Voices readers who have followed Bobby's story know that he was born with a complex congenital heart defect. One chamber of his heart was malformed, leaving him with only one pump pushing blood to his body and lungs, as opposed to the normal two.

Over the past five years, he has undergone four open-heart surgeries at Yale-New Haven Hospital. With each surgery, he endured numerous complications and life-threatening crises, some of which necessitated medications which turned out to be toxic to his hearing.

In October of last year, Bobby was diagnosed with a bilateral hearing loss and now wears two hearing aids.

Bobby and his family are running the Hartford Marathon as a fundraiser for Soundbridge, a Wethersfield school specializing in oral communication for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Since children are developing language skills in infancy and young childhood, the ramifications of not being able to hear during the formative years are many.

Bobby missed crucial information during this time because of his hearing loss, resulting in significant gaps in his language and comprehension skills.

He and his family receive support services at Soundbridge once a week from a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing.

As of September 8, Bobby had logged 14.5 miles toward his goal of 25. His mother, Trish Whitehouse, said she is amazed at his increasing ability to run further distances.

Prior to his last heart surgery in May 2005, Bobby would get winded just walking up a flight of stairs.

According to Trish, Bobby is now taking the initiative to make the family start running, saying, 'Hey, you can't catch me, I'm faster than you!' as he speeds away, teasing one of his siblings into a race.

"I just never thought I'd see this day," Trish said. "This marathon is much more than a race or a fundraiser, it's a celebration of Bobby's life."

Siblings Hannah, 15, Nathan, 12, and Carrie, 9, are also logging miles and will run with Bobby in the last miles of the marathon. Bobby's father, John Zabarsky, will accompany his family in the half-marathon distance, while Trish will compete in the whole marathon course that same day.

The Whitehouse/Zabarsky family is being featured on NBC 30-TV's 10-week Hartford Marathon buildup series. The first segment of that series can be viewed at http://www.nbc30.com/sports/9675476/detail.html.

Soundbridge students are also logging miles and will complete their last distances during the actual marathon.

Trish hopes that including all these hearing-impaired children will give them the opportunity to feel good about their accomplishment, thereby increasing their self esteem.

"Children with any disability, especially hearing impairment, which affects so much of their social interaction with their peers, can have a devastating effect on their self esteem," she said.

"By competing in an event that even their peers could not complete, I hope that they can look themselves in the mirror, hearing aids or cochlear implant and all, and say, 'Wow, I am a really good person!'"

Donations to help children with hearing loss can be made on Trish's website for Bobby's fundraiser at http://www.firstgiving.com/bobbymarathon.