China's humanoid robots close in on human half-marathon pace

China's humanoid robots completed the Beijing E-Town 2026 humanoid robot half-marathon on Sunday, with one top-performing model finishing in around 48 minutes under controlled conditions.

Both autonomously navigated and remotely controlled robots competed on the same course, with results calculated using weighted coefficients of 1.0 and 1.2, respectively.

The remotely controlled robot, "Lightning," from Honor, which was also the first robot to set off, crossed the finish line first in 48 minutes and 19 seconds.

Based on the event's weighting rules, another robot from Honor's autonomous navigation team won the championship with a net time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

The result brings robots closer than ever to matching elite human endurance. The current world record for the human half-marathon is 57 minutes and 20 seconds.

Regarded as the world's first humanoid robot half-marathon, the event's second edition drew participation from over 100 teams, with autonomous navigation teams accounting for about 40% of the total.

In last year's inaugural race, the humanoid robot "Tiangong Ultra" claimed the championship by completing the race in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.