First Humanoid Robot Half Marathon Takes Place in Beijing, Tiangong Ultra Wins

China hosted the world’s first humanoid robot half marathon today in Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area (E-Town), specifically at the Yizhuang Half Marathon. It’s a wild milestone, blending human and robot runners on a 13-mile course.

For the first time ever, 21 humanoid robots raced alongside roughly 12,000 human runners in a half marathon. The robots, developed by Chinese companies like DroidUP, Noetix Robotics, and the Beijing Innovation Centre of Human Robotics, competed in a fenced-off lane for safety, starting simultaneously with humans at 7:30 AM from the South Square of Nanhaizi Park (Phase I) and finishing at the National Information Technology Application Innovation Industrial Park by Tongming Lake.

Put simply, the requirements were that robots had to be bipedal, humanoid in appearance, and between 1.5 to 6.5 feet tall. They could be remote-controlled, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous. Battery swaps were allowed, but each swap incurred a 10-minute penalty.


Who won? The star was most certainly Tiangong Ultra, a 5.9-foot-tall robot from the Beijing Innovation Center. Its long legs and AI-powered algorithm replicating human marathon running helped it clinch first place among robots with a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes, though it needed three battery swaps and a human helper to prevent falls.


Not all robots shone. One fell flat at the starting line, taking minutes to recover, while another crashed into a railing, tripping its operator. Most needed human support crews, some even on leashes, highlighting stability issues. Tiangong Ultra took the robot category at 2:40, but it was outpaced by the human men’s winner, who clocked a blazing 1 hour and 2 minutes. The top robot finisher earned 5,000 yuan ($690). Awards also went to categories like best gait, most popular robot, and simply crossing the finish line