‘Athletes’: China will host world’s first human-robot half-marathon

Beijing is set to host the first-ever human-robot half-marathon in April, featuring global “athletes” from both species.

Beijing’s ‘E-Town’ is set to host the first ever human-robot half-marathon in April, welcoming “athletes” from all over the world.

The unique race will see 12,000 human runners and humanoid robots from dozens of global companies go head to head.

“Welcome to the future,” one person posted to X about the announcement.

“Terminator, the prelude episode,” retweeted another.

Participating robots must have a humanoid appearance and mechanical structures that allow them to walk or run on two legs, excluding wheeled robots.

Both remote-controlled, semi-autonomous and fully autonomous robots are eligible.

The robots will race in a separate lane, with safety measures including iron barriers and greenbelt isolations will be implemented to ensure the well-being of both runners and machines.

The competition will set a cut-off time of three and a half hours and the top three finishers — human or robot — will receive prizes of 5000, 4000 and 3000 yuan ($A1000, $A870 and $A650).

Robots will also be awarded for categories such as best endurance and most popular appearance.

The cutting-edge event will take place on April 13 in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as E-Town.

“During the race, robots are allowed to change batteries,” Li Quan, deputy head of the E-Town’s management committee explained.

“Robot teams from a company can also participate in relay form by swapping robots.

“Performance will be evaluated based on finishing time and the number of robot changes during the race. Each robot change will incur a 10-minute penalty.”

Robots are starting to gear up for the 2025 race. Picture: X @shanghaidaily

A robot completed a half marathon race in Yizhuang, Beijing in 1 hour and 57 minutes. Picture: X @BridgingNews_

“We hope that this event will not only showcase achievements in the humanoid robotics industry, but also spark discussions and deepen the public’s understanding of robot capabilities, which will help accelerate industry development,” Li said.

Some of these breakthrough robots were previously spotted cheering on runners at the start and finish lines of the 2024 Beijing half-marathon.

2024 Beijing half-marathon. Picture: X @BridgingNews_

“I wonder if Telsa Optimus is going to enter the next one?” questioned an X user at the time.

This year, China has taken it a step further by strongly encouraging participation ahead of the 2025 World Robot Conference.

“Beijing’s technological innovation is accelerating in fields such as large-scale artificial intelligence models, multi-source information perception and human-machine natural interaction. Robots are evolving rapidly, with innovative humanoid products constantly emerging, demonstrating an unprecedented pace of both physical and intellectual advancement.”

Companies, research institutions, robot clubs, and universities are invited to sign up. Registrations remain open until March 11th.

Originally published as ‘Athletes’: China will host world’s first human-robot half-marathon