In a groundbreaking but glitch-ridden event, 21 bipedal robots took on human athletes in a half-marathon in Beijing, aiming to showcase China’s advancing AI and robotics capabilities. The humanoid competitors, designed by teams from Chinese universities and tech firms, struggled through the 13-mile course, often stalling or collapsing before reaching the finish line.

The event, held under blooming cherry trees, drew crowds intrigued by the spectacle of robots jogging alongside humans—albeit in a separate lane. While some of the robots waved at spectators and managed brief runs, many broke down mid-race. Footage captured a silver humanoid toppling over, caught mid-fall by a race official.

Despite the setbacks, China saw the event as a statement of intent in the global AI race. Tiangong Ultra, the leading robotic runner, completed the course in 2 hours and 40 minutes—well behind the human winner’s time of 1 hour and 2 minutes, and nearly two hours slower than the men’s world record held by Jacob Kiplimo.

Tang Jian, CTO of the Robotics Information Center, defended the performance:
“I don’t want to boast, but I think no other robotics firm in the West has matched Tiangong’s sporting achievements,” he told CNN. He credited Tiangong’s performance to its advanced leg design and a motion-mimicking algorithm based on human gait analysis.

Robots were permitted battery swaps during the race, while some were guided by remote control or tethered to handlers, reflecting the early-stage limitations of autonomous humanoid mobility.

While they didn’t outrun humans, the robots made a different kind of stride—bringing humanoid robotics closer to real-world applications, one wobbling step at a time.