Beijing hosted the world’s first half-marathon for humanoid robots on Saturday, with 21 bipedal bots running a 13.1-mile course alongside human racers.
The bots ran in separate lanes with human escorts and made pit stops for battery swaps—each costing a 10-minute penalty. Some teams even swapped entire robots mid-race.
Only four robots finished within the four-hour limit. Tiangong Ultra, also known as Sky Project Ultra, won the robot division in 2:40:42, running at about 5 mph and finishing on its third battery.
Many bots wore human sneakers, and mishaps were frequent—one lost its head, another crumbled, and some didn’t make it off the starting line. Awards went to endurance, gait, and innovation, but just staying upright might have felt like a win.
