Doon based student activist group, Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) was joined by DG Law and Order, Ashok Kumar as the student group celebrated the inauguration of the six day Madathon festival held on its foundation day to generate awareness to rejuvenate drying streams of Doon Valley.
A large number of runners turned up for this event. What made this eight kilometre circular route beginning from Parade Ground a challenging race for the organisers was the unprecedented use of steel glasses only in all the water filling stations along the Madathon route.
In line with its zero waste policy, the group took special care to ensure that not even a single plastic flex was printed for the event. All promotional material was prepared on canvas cloth, chart papers and some others using scrap and waste material.When the race concluded, MAD members distributed refreshments that had been prepared by volunteers. This was in accordance with MAD's declared ideal of pocket money driven activism. MAD members also ensured that after the event the Parade Ground was left in spic and span condition. Hundreds of individuals specially registered with MAD to join their weekly Sunday to Sunday activities. At the end of the race, the winner of this eco friendly endeavor in the male category was Munesh Kumar.
The winner in the female category was Radha with Sandhya Bind and Priyanka coming second and third respectively.Those present on the occasion also included the group’s founder Abhijay Negi, Swati Singh, Karan Kapoor and others.