New Delhi: More than 41,000 runners at Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon (VDHM) 2026 helped contribute 50 lakh meals for children and animals in need, taking the five-year impact of the #RunForZeroHunger initiative beyond 2.7 crore meals, the organisers said.Under the initiative, every kilometre clocked contributes one meal through Anil Agarwal Foundation’s Nand Ghar and The Animal Care Organisation (TACO). The 2026 edition of VDHM marked five years of Vedanta’s association with the event.Sporting icons Mary Kom, Pramod Bhagat and Mahesh Bhupathi joined the celebrations. The races were flagged off by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, along with Vedanta Group CEO Arun Misra, president-strategy Rahul Sharma, Vedanta Power CEO Rajinder Ahuja and interim CEO of Vedanta Oil & Gas Jim Johnny Gast. Vice-Admiral Atul Anand also attended the event.Priya Agarwal Hebbar, non-executive director of Vedanta and chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, said, “With 41,000 runners taking to the streets, this year’s Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon celebrated sporting excellence, personal determination and the extraordinary power of collective action.”She added, “Together with everyone who contributed their kilometres to Run For Zero Hunger, we achieved this year’s target of 5 million meals. At Anil Agarwal Foundation, we believe sport has the power to build champions and transform lives. Every personal best and every finish line became part of a bigger victory, which is a step towards a better-nourished India.”Nand Ghar operates more than 16,000 modernised anganwadis across 18 states, focusing on nutrition, healthcare, early childhood education and women’s empowerment. TACO extends the initiative to animal welfare. Beyond Delhi, more than 22,000 Vedanta employees, CXOs (chief experience officers) and business partners participated through walkathons, mini-marathons and the Step Set Go app.The finishers’ medals were made from high-grade zinc sourced from Hindustan Zinc’s Zawar Mines in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Vedanta’s wider sports initiatives include football academies in Rajasthan and Goa, archery programmes in Jharkhand and Odisha, support for hockey through Kalinga Lancers, and running events in Jaipur and Udaipur, alongside support for marathons in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
