On April 19, the 2026 Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon took place in China. According to People, the race included more than 100 robots and 12,000 humans. However, to prevent any incidents, the humans and robots ran on separate courses.
In a statement, the city of Beijing called the event more than just a race. "It marks a major step forward for the robotics industry—accelerating the transition of humanoid robots from lab to large-scale, real-world application," they said.
The statement also explained how the robots prepared. “An unprecedented late-night test run took place from the evening of April 11 to the early hours of April 12 at the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area,” they said. “But this wasn't just a warm-up—it was a full-scale simulation test of the entire race. Designed to mirror real competition conditions, the test run covered everything from route navigation and scheduling to equipment coordination and emergency response, aimed at ensuring that robot competitors will run smoothly from start to finish during the race.”
The winner of the marathon was a robot named Lightning, who was developed by Honor, a smartphone maker. Although Lightning crashed into a barricade at one point, the robot was still able to complete the 13-mile marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, coming in first. Last year, the winning robot completed the race in two hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds, making this a significant improvement in a short amount of time. This year, robots also came in second and third place.
Honor said, “Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology could be applied in future industrial scenarios.”
However, some people online aren’t as impressed by the robot’s win. On a video about the event, one person said, “All fun and games until they turn against us.” Another said, “It didn’t beat any human records—because it’s not human—it doesn’t count.”
