Robot Ran Faster Than a Human — But the Rules Allowed It to Stop and Change Battery
A humanoid robot Honor completed a 21-kilometer half-marathon in Beijing in 50:26, breaking Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo's record by seven minutes. The progress is impressive, but the comparison is manipulative.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
April 20, 2026 · 2 min read
On April 19, the second humanoid robot half-marathon took place in Beijing's Yichuan district. The winner — autonomous robot Flash from Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor — crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. This is faster than the record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo (57:20) in Lisbon last month.
One Year — Three Times Faster
The progress between the two editions of the competition is the main news. Last year's winner Tiangong Ultra completed the distance in 2 hours and 40 minutes — approximately three times slower than this year's result. The number of participating teams increased to over 100.
But a record is only a record under equal conditions. And here we should pause.
What Actually Happened on the Course
Robots and humans ran in separate lanes to avoid collisions. Some robots moved gracefully, imitating famous athletes, while others had more basic capabilities.
According to the rules, each team could have up to three support staff members who were allowed to intervene — after judge confirmation — in cases of battery replacement, switching to a backup robot, or if a robot fell. In other words, a technical stop in the middle of the distance — not disqualification, but a scenario provided for in the regulations.
The winner Flash crashed into a fence near the finish line — it was picked up and ran to the finish line.
"My machine also beats a cheetah"
— a comment on social media cited by TechCrunch
About 40% of robots competed autonomously, while the remaining 60% were remotely controlled. Another Honor robot finished in 48:19, but it was remotely controlled — which is why the autonomous Flash with a result of 50:26 became the winner after applying a weighted coefficient.
Chinese Robotics: Pace, Not Slogans
In scope, this is more than just a sporting spectacle. The organizers introduced a coefficient of 1.2 for results of remotely controlled robots — to encourage teams to invest in autonomy rather than rely on operators. In other words, the regulatory design of the competition consciously accelerates the technological race.
In parallel: the Honor robot maintained an average speed of approximately 25 km/h throughout the entire distance. For comparison — Kiplimo's average speed during his record was approximately 22 km/h.
If next year the organizers ban any intervention by support staff during the run and make it mandatory to start from a single battery charge — and the robot still sets a record — then comparison with a human would become valid.
