A Humanoid Robot Set a Half-Marathon Record in China

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Javier Carbajal Business Apr 20, 2026 6:33 PM A Humanoid Robot Set a Half-Marathon Record in China An autonomous robot from the company Honor ran a half marathon in 50:26, beating the human record by 7 minutes. A humanoid robot from the Honor remote-controlled team crosses the finish line during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing on April 19, 2026. Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Over the weekend in China , a humanoid robot shattered world half-marathon record—the human record—by seven minutes.

The star performer was a robot developed by the Chinese company Honor (the smartphone maker ), which finished the 13. 1-mile race in 50 minutes, 26 seconds. The human record, set by Ugandan Olympic medalist Jacob Kiplimo, is 57 minutes, 20 seconds.

Technical Details

The result marks an impressive milestone especially considering that, just a year earlier, the fastest robot at this half-marathon event took two and a half hours to complete the same distance. But Honor's robot was not the only participant. The event consisted of more than 100 humanoid robots from 76 institutions across China.

The robots lined up alongside 12,000 human runners in Beijing's E-Town, albeit on separate courses to avoid accidents. The contrast in performance between humans and robots was more than evident. Run, Robot, Run A humanoid robot is designed to mimic the structure and movement of the human body, with legs, arms, and sensors that allow it to interact with its environment.

In this case, the winning robot incorporated features inspired by elite runners: long legs (almost a meter), advanced balance systems, and a liquid cooling mechanism, similar to that of smartphones, to prevent overheating during the race. In addition, many of the participating robots operated autonomously, meaning without direct human control. Thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms, they could adjust their pace, maintain balance, and adapt to the terrain in real time.

Industry Implications

Notably, the Honor robot that achieved the 50-minute mark operated autonomously. The Chinese manufacturer presented another robot, operated by remote control, that ran the same stretch in even less time: 48 minutes, 19 seconds. As expected, there were some accidents in the race.

Some robots fell down, others veered off the path, and several needed technical assistance along the way. While the physical performance of humanoid robots has advanced rapidly, their reliability is still developing. Of course, the laughter and jeers are no longer as frequent as they used to be, replaced by applause and exclamations of surprise.

The winning robot, "Blitz,” from smartphone manufacturer Honor was on display at the awards ceremony after the Beijing E-Town Robot Half Marathon.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.