STORYLINE:

Humanoid robots that will take part in the 2026 Beijing E‑Town Half Marathon, also known as the Humanoid Robot Half‑Marathon, have completed a full-process and all-element road test from Saturday night to early Sunday morning.

The test fully simulated core scenarios such as marathon course, process coordination, and emergency support, making preparations for the official run.

Co‑hosted by the Beijing Municipal People's Government and China Media Group (CMG), the official event will kick off on April 19.

The humanoid robot half-marathon will feature an autonomous navigation group and a remote control group, with autonomous navigation teams accounting for nearly 40 percent. Compared with last year, the number of teams in this year's event exceeded 100, an increase of nearly five times.

More than 70 teams participated in the test event, including four international teams. The autonomous navigation group and the remote control group conducted night testing activities simultaneously on the same field.

"Last year, just being able to finish the race was already considered impressive. But this year, it really reflects an overall improvement across the entire industry," said Chu Yang, marketing manager of Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics.

The main purpose of the full-process and full-element test is to conduct technical verification, process coordination, and risk prevention and control. During the testing process, the short-distance speed of the robots has significantly improved, and some teams predict that their half-marathon results are expected to approach the level of elite human runners.

"This test also exposed many problems, such as robot malfunctions, blocking issues, and some safety guarantee issues on the course. These related issues will be quickly addressed and improved during the qualifying tournament, and we will strive to present the best possible performance in the official race," said Liang Liang, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Beijing, China - April 11-12, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)

1. Various of humanoid robots, people at road test site

2. Various of humanoid robots setting off, running

3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Chu Yang, marketing manager, Unitree Robotics (ending with shot 4):

"Last year, just being able to finish the race was already considered impressive. But this year, it really reflects an overall improvement across the entire industry."

4. Various of humanoid robots running

5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Liang Liang, deputy secretary-general of Chinese Institute of Electronics (starting with shot 4/ending with shots 6-7):

"This test also exposed many problems, such as robot malfunctions, blocking issues, and some safety guarantee issues on the course. These related issues will be quickly addressed and improved during the qualifying tournament, and we will strive to present the best possible performance in the official race."

6. Various of technicians checking humanoid robots

7. Various of humanoid robots running