MARATHON BOT

Humans Crush Humanoid Robots in Historic Half-Marathon

Though most robots broke down early on, six managed to finish the race.

Robots and humans alike competed in a half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, where 21 robots ran alongside 12,000 humans in what the event organizers have touted as the first bipedal robot half-marathon. Bipedal robots are machines that can move with two limbs, or “legs,” rather than tracks or wheels. Although most robots collapsed early on—and one got decapitated—six managed to finish the race. According to Wired, the fastest robot, Tiangong Ultra, finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds—barely qualifying for the minimum time for a human runner. The men’s race winner had a time of 1 hour and 2 minutes. “I don’t want to boast, but I think no other robotics firms in the West have matched Tiangong’s sporting achievements,” said Tiangong Ultra’s owner Tang Jian, the chief technology officer for the Beijing Innovation Center of Human Robotics.