Robot Marathon Record Broken in Beijing

On April 19, the 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon officially opened in Beijing’s Yizhuang district, drawing global attention to one of the most ambitious robot endurance events to date.

In a landmark result, Honor’s “Lightning” humanoid robot, fielded by the Qitian Dasheng Team, claimed the championship with a stunning finishing time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds. The result surpassed the human men’s half-marathon world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds by nearly seven minutes, marking a major milestone in the evolution of humanoid robot mobility, endurance, and autonomous performance.

This year’s robot marathon brought together more than 100 teams from 13 provinces across China, with over 300 humanoid robots entering the competition. Five overseas teams also participated, expanding the event scale to nearly five times that of the inaugural edition.

The 21.0975-kilometer course was designed to challenge the robots across a wide range of real-world road conditions. It included flat sections, 9-degree slopes, 22 standard turns, multiple sharp 90-degree corners, and speed bumps, testing each robot’s dynamic balance, route planning, terrain adaptability, and emergency response capabilities.

Honor’s “Lightning” series dominated the competition, sweeping the top three places in the speed category. All three leading robots finished faster than the current human men’s half-marathon world record.

The champion, Qitian Dasheng Team’s autonomous navigation “Lightning,” finished in 50:26.

The runner-up, Thunder Lightning Team’s autonomous navigation “Lightning,” completed the course in 50:56.

The third-place robot, Spark Team’s autonomous navigation “Lightning,” crossed the finish line in 53:01.

Standing 169 centimeters tall, the winning “Lightning” robot combines a futuristic mecha-inspired appearance with aerodynamic design considerations. Built for speed, power, and outdoor endurance, it is equipped with a self-developed high-dynamic motion system and a multimodal perception and autonomous decision-making system.

As an autonomous navigation model, “Lightning” demonstrated three core strengths throughout the race. First, it completed the course without manual intervention, independently planning its route and adjusting stride rhythm in a long-distance outdoor environment. Second, it showed strong terrain adaptability, maintaining stable high-speed movement across slopes, narrow paths, continuous turns, and complex road conditions. Third, it displayed impressive resilience. After a minor collision with a sightseeing vehicle caused a foot component to detach, the robot autonomously adjusted its posture and continued the race without human assistance.

As one of the world’s leading humanoid robot marathon events, the Beijing Yizhuang competition has become an important platform for testing robotic performance in real-world environments. Under the theme of advancing industrial development through competition, the event demonstrated how humanoid robot technology is moving from basic locomotion toward practical endurance, reliability, and autonomous operation.

Compared with the first edition, the progress was significant. The completion rate rose from below 30% to more than 45%. The winning time improved from 2 hours and 40 minutes to 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Autonomous navigation also advanced rapidly, accounting for 38% of participants, with 18 teams completing the race fully autonomously.

The event also introduced special awards such as Best Endurance and Most Elegant Gait, encouraging diverse technical innovation and supporting the broader application of humanoid robots in real-world scenarios.

The victory of Honor’s “Lightning” was more than a race result. It reflected the rapid development of humanoid robotics and the growing strength of Beijing Yizhuang as a technology innovation hub. From laboratories to racecourses, humanoid robots are progressing from tentative movement to high-speed endurance performance.

With continued technological iteration, humanoid robots may increasingly take on complex and demanding tasks across industrial, commercial, and public-service environments. The 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon has concluded, but the golden era of humanoid robotics may only just be beginning.