China’s Humanoid Robots Run Half Marathon: “Lightning” Wins Championship and Breaks Human Record | WPN World People News

On April 19, Yizhuang in Beijing, China, hosted the “Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon.” The event was first held in 2025 with only six robotics companies participating. This year, the scale expanded significantly, with teams from 13 provinces across China, over 100 teams, and more than 300 robots taking part—setting new records in quantity, participation scope, and technological diversity.

According to foreign media reports, this year’s competition featured two participation modes: autonomous navigation and remote control. The weighting factors for the two categories were 1.0 and 1.2 of the net time results, respectively. The race covered a distance of over 21 kilometers, with a route that included slopes, curves, nearly 90-degree turns, and downhill sections—posing challenges to the robots’ dynamic balance and endurance. Each robot was accompanied by a support vehicle to assist in completing the race. Compared to last year, although the failure rate remained relatively high, the performance of the robots showed significant improvement, demonstrating breakthroughs in long-distance running capabilities.

The champion, the “Lightning” robot from the Qitian Dasheng team, is an autonomous navigation humanoid robot developed by Shenzhen-based Honor Intelligent Technology. In March 2026, the men’s half marathon world record was set in Lisbon by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo with a time of 57 minutes and 20 seconds. “Lightning” surpassed this mark with a net time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

The report also noted that “Lightning” stands 169 cm tall and features both autonomous navigation and remote control modes. It adopts a mecha-style design, emphasizing high-speed running and terrain adaptability. In addition, the Beijing traffic police robot “Tianyi” made its official debut at the event, participating in on-site traffic management. “Tianyi” is capable of directing traffic with hand signals, guiding pedestrians, and promoting safety awareness.