Robots race with human runners - 2nd June 2025

Robots have competed against their fellow human runners in a half marathon in China. The humanoid robots were the products of Chinese manufacturers and varied enormously in size, from 1.2 metres to 1.8 metres in height.

Each and every robot contestant was accompanied by its human companion, who was responsible for keeping it on track and for renewing its batteries when required. As in a normal competition, there were a few accidents as the race was underway.

Out of the robots, Tiangong Ultra, the creation of Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, was victorious at the finish. The firm's chief technology officer Tang Jian put their success down to their extensive research. He claimed they'd closely examined the movements of professional competitors.

Tang Jian: "We collected real-world running data from professional athletes and trained the robot so that its gait, cadence, stride length, and various postures could match those of professional runners as closely as possible."

The first occasion where humanoid robots have raced against humans, this event was significant in additional ways. It gave China an opening in which to exhibit their talents in robotics. Additionally, it offered the space to trial the machines' strength and stability.

Tang Jian: "The main purpose behind doing the half marathon is to prepare for future - or rather, near-future - industrial applications. When our robots are deployed in factories, commercial settings, or everyday life, we expect them to work continuously, 24/7, without failure. Running the marathon is essentially an extreme test of reliability and stability."

Although the human victor's running time was, at one hour and two minutes, under half that of Tiangong Ultra's, many of the spectators consider it's only a matter of time until a robot wins. Huang Xiaoyu and her young daughter, who were observing with great interest, were convinced that robots would soon be first past the finishing post.

Huang Xiaoyu: "Right now, humans still run faster, but in the future, do you think robots or humans will be faster? [Huang's Daughter: "Robots!"] Looks like in the future, it might just be robots that run faster."