The era of us laughing at humanoids playing sport may now be behind us – for the most part – as a field of robots competing in a half marathon in Beijing demonstrated how frighteningly fast the technology has developed in just 12 months. Even if one model had a day to forget, smashing into pieces after tripping at the starting line, the record-setting winner is a sign of things to come.
That winner, a lesser known Chinese autonomous-navigation robot known as Lightning, is the work of tech company Honor – better known for its smartphones and laptops. The robot smashed the course in Beijing’s E-Town economic and technological development zone on Sunday, April 19, crossing the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. To date, the fastest recorded human time is 57 minutes, 20 seconds.
China Global Television Network captured Lightning sprinting right through the finish-line ribbon, looking like it could keep running for days.
🤖⚡48:19! “Lightning” of China’s HONOR cross first at 2026 Humanoid Robot Half Marathon 🇨🇳
The 169-cm-tall (5.5-ft) robot is a perfect example of just how far Chinese humanoids have advanced in only a year, where the focus – as we witnessed at the recent InnoEx expo in Hong Kong – appears to be on joint mobility and operational efficiency. According to China Daily, Lightning has a peak torque of 400 Nm and hosts a “liquid-cooling system [which] features cooling channels that penetrate deep into the motor’s interior like capillaries to dissipate heat, while a high-power liquid pump generates a heat-exchange flow exceeding four liters per minute.” Essentially, it can set a half-marathon world record without breaking a sweat – in robot terms, anyway.
Xinhua via China Daily
It’s also worth remembering that a half-marathon is no “walk in the park” at 13.1 miles (21.1 km). At my peak, I could run just over six miles (around 10 km) in 50 minutes, which isn’t at all fast by competition standards, but these bots can now run laps – literally – around us casual joggers. And I bet their recovery is a damn sight easier, too.
The autonomous competitors were guided around the course by the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and 5G real-time information, while the assisted humanoids were trailed by teams operating their movements by remote control. Overall, more than 100 groups entered their running machines in the race, with the top three spots claimed by robots developed by Honor.
Xinhua via China Daily
That said, the event wasn’t without incident – even the winner, which led for the whole race, collided with a barricade and fell over during the final stretch of the track, but staff were on hand to rescue it and it went on to complete the race and still claim the record. Another robot wasn’t so lucky, tripping at the starting line and quite literally falling apart.
Its support team then flew into action, rushing out with a stretcher to pick up the many pieces of its body and limbs strewn across the course.
Moment marathon-running robot shatters after tripping as medical team rush over with stretcher
Better luck next year, buddy.
Meanwhile, we have added some other race highlights in our gallery, if you want to see a snapshot of the record-setting race.
Source: China Daily