During an all – robot half – marathon in China, a humanoid robot runs faster than any human ever has.

(SeaPRwire) –   A humanoid robot that triumphed in a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday achieved a speed surpassing the human world record, showcasing China’s advancements in technology.

The winning robot, developed by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. This information was shared in a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, the location where the race commenced.

This time is faster than that of the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in approximately 57 minutes during the Lisbon road race in March.

The robot’s performance represents a substantial improvement from the inaugural race held last year, where the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds.

However, the competition, which ran concurrently with a human race, encountered some issues, including one robot falling at the start line and another colliding with a barrier.

Du Xiaodi, Honor’s test development engineer, expressed satisfaction with the results. He explained that the robot’s design was inspired by elite human athletes, featuring long legs approximately 95 cm (around 37 inches) in length, and incorporated a robust liquid-cooling system, largely developed internally.

“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,” he stated.

While widespread commercialization of humanoid robots is still some time away, spectators were visibly impressed by the robots’ capabilities. Sun Zhigang, who attended last year’s event, observed Sunday’s race with his son.

“I feel enormous changes this year,” Sun remarked. “It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”

Wang Wen, who attended with his family, commented that the robots seemed to have captured most of the attention from the human runners during the event.

“The robots’ speed far exceeds that of humans,” he said. “This may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.”

Beijing E-Town reported that approximately 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the remaining robots were operated remotely.

State media outlet Global Times reported that a separate, remotely controlled robot from Honor was the first to cross the finish line, completing the race in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. However, the winning robot utilized autonomous navigation and secured the championship based on the event’s weighted scoring system.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the second and third-place finishers, also from Honor and employing autonomous navigation, completed the race in approximately 51 minutes and 53 minutes, respectively. CCTV also noted that a robot served as a traffic director, guiding participants with arm gestures and voice commands.

In China, technological development has become a competitive arena with the U.S., carrying implications for national security. Beijing’s latest five-year plan outlines objectives to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Accelerating the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is a component of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

Omdia, a technology research and advisory group based in London, recently identified three Chinese companies—AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics, and UBTech Robotics Corp.—as the sole first-tier vendors in its global assessment of shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

These companies each shipped over 1,000 units of these robots last year, with AGIBOT and Unitree Robotics shipping more than 5,000 units, according to the report.