China with the celebration this Sunday of a half marathon between robots and humans in Beijing. It is worth clarifying one thing beforehand: it has not been a fair competition. The first humanoid has run so absurdly fast that it has shattered all the speed records of our species. “Let’s go Shandian!” Dozens of people gathered around a curve early in the morning to watch the spectacle at kilometer 11 of the race.
Watching Shandian run (it means Lightning in Mandarin, that’s the name of the first to cross the finish line) 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, as we witness the insensitive and imperturbable way in which our own creation advances on the road.
Shandian, of a sparkling red color, is an android with a robust body that contrasts with his agile and thin legs linked to the pelvis by thick mechanical joints; His feet are not feet but shovels that clatter at a ferocious rhythm against the asphalt, and there is barely time to encourage him, to record him, to take photos, to observe him. You have to choose one of them.
“Go Shandian, go robot!” Just 25 minutes after the start, he passes like a rocket through the curve at kilometer 11, which he gallops without hesitation, and disappears into the distance along the straight in an exhale. The audience laughs nervously, and looks at each other, as one does when one does not fully understand what one has just seen. There are families, excited 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 very fast!”, they manage to say in a confused way, and they review the video recorded on their phones in disbelief. It will be another nine long minutes before we see the first humans appear at this point, running along a separate lane, and by then five other robots will have passed by with dizzying strides. As I said: it has not been a fair competition.
Shendian was effectively the first to cross the finish line, with a time of 48 minutes and 19 seconds, lowering by more than nine minutes the best human world record achieved in March by the Ugandan Jakob Kiplimo (57:20) in the Lisbon half marathon, although it is true that the long-distance machine collided with the fences shortly before reaching the finish line, and had to be helped up in order to finish the race, according to the media present at that other event. point.
And in any case it has not been a winner, since being a model controlled by remote control it has been penalized compared to autonomous robots. The winner, Qitian Dasheng, arrived shortly after, finishing the 21.0975 kilometers of the race with a time of 50:26. Both humanoids, very similar in appearance, have been developed by Honor, a giant specialized in consumer electronics and mobile phones. The news of their arrival spread immediately among the public at kilometer 11 when the bulk of the 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 verify the speed at which technology is developing in China. The event has brought together more than a hundred teams and some 12,000 human runners in Yizhuang, a technological expansion on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, according to the organization.
In last year’s competition, in which only about twenty robots participated, ; Many of the automatons failed miserably and failed to finish the competition. Sometimes it was comical to see them advance with their clumsy little 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 the power of China. The People’s Republic already stretched its limits in February during the impressive display of robots at the Spring Festival Gala. It had everything from a comical scene with hyper-realistic humanoid robots chatting with a granny, to showing the potential of artificial intelligence, which led to wondering about the form that future wars will take.
“I came because I want to see the elegance of robots, and the scientific and technological progress in our country. As a Chinese, I feel very proud,” commented Wang Canhui, 29, one of the women stationed next to the fence in the front row shortly before seeing Shandian pass. Wang, an employee at the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, has the feeling that since she saw the synchronized robot dance at the 2025 Spring Gala, progress has been made at an “amazing” speed.
China is aware that this race is not merely technological; The second power is staking the dominance of a growing sector, with enormous economic possibilities and applications in daily life. China was the origin of almost 90% of the approximately 13,000 humanoid robots sold worldwide last year. It is well ahead of its American rivals, including Tesla’s Optimus, according to research firm Omdia. Morgan Stanley expects sales of humanoid robots in China will double to 28,000 units this year, according to data cited by Reuters.
“I think China’s robots are going to develop very quickly this year, and there will be a revolutionary leap in one to three years,” added another woman in the audience. He followed the times and results on his mobile with interest, and knew the names of different robots in the competition. He did not want to give his name because, according to what he said, he works in the research and development department at the Honor company, manufacturer of the winning android. She was happy with the creature’s success. In his opinion, the most complicated on a commercial level 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 does not make much sense to have humans compete against robots. These are really two parallel careers: one is technological, the other has to do with the physical limits and the desire to improve our species. It’s like organizing a memory competition between Chat GPT and a scholar.
Robots do not breathe, they do not feel or suffer, the kilometers barely affect them; Meanwhile, people appear panting and sweating, some limp with injuries. As the race progresses, a curious phenomenon happens at the kilometer 11 curve: once the first dozen robots pass by, when the surprise effect fades, and more clumsy models appear, who make waves and drag their feet, the public stops cheering them as much. On the other hand, despite the assured defeat, the human runners grow little by little, they wave their arms in the air, asking the public to cheer them on; They awaken screams, smiles and probably something similar to empathy.
