China has once again flexed its cyber muscle with the celebration this Sunday of a half marathon between robots and humans in Beijing. It’s worth clarifying one thing beforehand: it was not a fair competition. The first humanoid ran so absurdly fast that it shattered all speed records for our species. “Go Shandian!” dozens of people gathered early in the morning around a curve to watch the spectacle shouted at him at kilometer 11 of the race.
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Watching Shandian run (it means Lightning in Mandarin, that’s the winner’s name) is a strange experience. One feels a mixture of pride and helplessness: pride, for what it implies in terms of technological leap, a largely collective achievement of humanity; helplessness, upon observing the insensitive and imperturbable way in which our own creation advances on the road.
Shandian, a shimmering red color, is a robust-bodied android that contrasts with its agile and slender legs attached to the pelvis by thick mechanical joints; its feet are not feet but paddles that clatter at a fierce pace against the asphalt, and there’s barely time to cheer it on, record it, take photos of it, or observe it. You have to choose one of them.
“Go Shandian, go robot!”. Just 25 minutes after the start, it passes like a rocket through the curve at kilometer 11, which it traces at a gallop without hesitation, and disappears into the distance down the straight in an exhalation. The audience laughs nervously, and they look at each other, as one does when they don’t quite understand what they’ve just seen. There are families, enthusiastic children, young and old, babies in strollers and grandparents in wheelchairs. Some carry signs with the name of the metal idol, cables, and circuits.
“It’s super fast!” they manage to say confusedly, and incredulously review the video recorded on their phones. Another nine long minutes will still pass before the first humans appear at this point, running in a separate lane, and by then five other robots with dizzying strides will have already passed. As stated: it was not a fair competition.
Shandian was indeed the first to cross the finish line, with a time of 48 minutes and 19 seconds, beating the best human world record achieved in March by Ugandan Jakob Kiplimo (57:20) in the Lisbon half marathon by more than nine minutes, although it is true that the long-distance machine crashed into the fences shortly before reaching the finish line, and had to be helped up to be able to conclude the race, according to media present at that other point.
And in any case, it was not the winner, as being a remote-controlled model, it was penalized against autonomous robots. The winner, another Shandian, but autonomous, arrived shortly after, finishing the 21.0975 kilometers of the race with a time of 50:26. Both humanoids, very similar in appearance, were developed by Honor, a giant specializing in consumer electronics and mobile phones. News of their arrival spread immediately among the crowd at kilometer 11 when the bulk of human runners had not even begun to cross the area.
Conceived halfway between a scientific experiment and a futuristic demonstration, this second edition of the Beijing half marathon between humans and robots has served to confirm the speed at which technology is developing in China. The event brought together more than a hundred teams and some 12,000 human runners in Yizhuang, a technological expansion area on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, according to the organization, making it the largest event of its kind in the world, seg
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In last year’s competition, in which barely twenty robots participated, the first humanoid took more than twice as long as the first human; many of the automatons failed spectacularly and did not manage to finish the competition. Sometimes it was comical to see them advance with their clumsy metallic steps, or be removed from the circuit by their creators as if they had gotten a cramp.
This year, robotic superiority has been overwhelming, creating a spectacle that once again shows China’s power amidst its technological and military rivalry with the United States. The People’s Republic already boasted of its capabilities in February during the breathtaking robot exhibition at the Spring Festival gala. It had everything, from a comical scene with hyperrealistic humanoid robots chatting with a grandmother, to show the potential of artificial intelligence, to a kung-fu exhibition that led one to wonder about the form future wars will take. The same has happened in this race: one only needs to remember the war legend that gives rise to this athletic event.
“I came because I want to see the elegance of robots, and the scientific and technological progress in our country. As a Chinese woman, I feel very proud,” commented Wang Canhui, 29, one of the women stationed by the fence in the front row shortly before seeing Shandian pass. Wang, an employee at the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, feels that since she saw the synchronized robot dance at the 2025 Spring Gala, progress has been made at a “surprising” speed.
China is aware that this race is not merely technological; the second power is vying for dominance in a growing sector, with enormous economic possibilities and applications in everyday life. The People’s Republic was the origin of almost 90% of the approximately 13,000 humanoid robots sold worldwide last year. It is far ahead of its American rivals, including Tesla’s Optimus, according to research firm Omdia. Morgan Stanley predicts that humanoid robot sales in China will double to 28,000 units this year, according to data cited by Reuters.
“I believe that China’s robots will develop very quickly this year, and a revolutionary leap will occur in one to three years,” added another woman from the audience. She followed the times and results on her phone with interest, and knew the names of different robots in the competition. She, however, did not want to identify herself because, she said, she works in the research and development department at Honor, the manufacturer of the winning androids. She was happy with the creatures’ success. In her opinion, the most complicated aspect commercially will be the implementation of home humanoids, but it will come: “Everyone is working in this direction right now.”
The race has also served to confirm that perhaps it doesn’t make much sense to pit humans against robots. It’s really two parallel races: one is technological, the other has to do with the physical limits and the desire for self-improvement of our species. It’s like organizing a memory competition between Chat GPT and a scholar.
Robots don’t breathe, don’t feel or suffer, the kilometers barely affect them; meanwhile, people appear panting and sweaty, some limping injured. As the race progresses, a curious phenomenon occurs at the curve of kilometer 11: once the first dozen robots pass, when the surprise effect fades, and clumsier models appear, tracing S-shapes and dragging their feet, the audience stops cheering them on as much. In contrast, despite the assured defeat, human runners gradually grow, wave their arms in the air, asking the public to cheer them on; they elicit shouts, smiles, and probably something similar to empathy.
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