A humanoid robot is assisted by support technicians after collapsing at the start line of the Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon on April 19, 2025, in Beijing, China.

Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21-km (13-mile) course.

BEIJING (AP) — In one small step for robot-kind — thousands of them, really — humanoid robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in the Chinese capital on Saturday.

Humanoid Robots Just Raced Alongside Human Runners in a World-First Half-Marathon. Here’s How It Went The race, held in China on Saturday, showcases the country’s advancements in humanoid ...

The human victor finished the half-marathon in just over an hour, while the winning humanoid robot took 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach the finish line. That comes down to an average speed of 4.89 ...