Last April, shared news from Beijing’s robot half-marathon, which I charitably called “not a resounding success” for the machines. Out of 21 entrants, only 6 managed to finish, and that was with a lot of assistance. It also took 2 hours and 40 minutes, quite a slow pace.

Just one year later, the results are markedly different. More than 100 robots entered, and several of them from Chinese smartphone maker Honor ran the race at a faster-than-human pace. The men’s world record is currently 57:20, and it’s not likely to drop by much more. For the robots, the autonomous winner finished in 50:26, while a remote-controlled robot managed 48:19.

All is not lost, however. Here’s a look at just two of the robots during the race:

[Full video source]

We may be slower, but humans clearly still hold an edge in the all important category of “not looking ridiculous while running”.

It’s two days after Marathon Monday here in Boston, and thus a fine time to check in on, uh, a “happy, spirited dog” who ran with the race leaders in 1961, before wreaking havoc.

For a seemingly impossible distance of roughly 10 miles, the dog happily led the Norris-Oksanen-Kelley group. Then, as the trio approached the fatefully-named Lower Newton Falls, disaster struck.

After the race, Kelley the Younger defended the dog, and praised the gentlemanly actions of Englishman Fred Norris.

It’s Marathon Monday here in Boston, and thus a fine time to check in on Beijing’s robot half-marathon first noted back in January, which has now taken place. The event was not a resounding success for the robots. For example, while humans sometimes collapse at the finish line of a race, here’s one robot entrant at the starting line:

21 teams entered a robot, but only 6 managed to complete the race. Even those robots that did complete 13.1 miles still took advantage of some helpful accommodations:

…robot contestants were allowed to get new batteries during the race. Companies were also allowed to swap their androids with substitutes when they could no longer compete, though each substitution came with a 10-minute penalty.

The winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete its run, which seems to put it in about the bottom 20% or so of all human finishers.¹ While advancements are certain in the future, human records and even most hobbyist PRs are safe for the time being.

Footnotes:

1. That page is a bit confused, and perhaps shows only results for males? Though it asks for details like age and gender, the results are always the same.

   

   Whatever the case, it’s fair to say 2:40 is not a very fast half-marathon. ↩︎

In April, more than 20 companies will bring robots to compete in a half-marathon in Beijing. Robots are coming for our jobs, sure, but do they have to come for our hobbies too?

Previously in Beijing half-marathon weirdness: A Bad Look for the Beijing Half

Athletes who ran the recent “City Half” course in San Francisco might have thought they’d run the fastest half-marathon of their lives. Alas, that was not correct, as noted in an email race organizers sent to short-changed participants:

“It came to our attention that, despite being measured and certified by a USAFT-certified course measurer, the course was incorrectly measured, resulting in a length of 12.6 miles instead of the full 13.1 miles,” the email read.

Though there were apparently no mentions of refunds or other recompense, organizers did include this:

“Thank you for running with us, and despite this error, we hope you enjoyed the course.”

I think most racers would have been much more likely to enjoy the course if it had been the proper distance.

Few things in life worth attaining are easy to attain. Overcoming obstacles is part of what brings meaning to achieving something. In sprinter Kendall Ellis’s case, one obstacle before she could claim a spot on the 2024 Olympic team was needing to escape a malfunctioning portable toilet.

I was also particularly amused by the opening from another report on the incident:

It was a classic case of going from the outhouse to the penthouse.

Oh, sure, that old story. “Outhouse to penthouse”, such a well-worn trope. Happens all the time. Classic.