Honor's "Lightning" android won the 2026 robot half marathon, smashing the human world record for the same distance.
The robot is said to use the same cooling tech as Honor's smartphones.
Honor might be best known for its smartphones, but the company also has a keen interest in robotics, not only with the Robot Phone, but with actual androids – the latest of which just broke the half marathon record.
In 2025, China hosted a half marathon for robots which saw the winner cross the line in 2 hours and 40 minutes, while most of its competitors failed to get through the course. But just a year later, Honor's humanoid robot crossed the line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
That not only sets a new record for robots running a 13.1 mile course, but smashes the human world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds. Of course, robots don't get tired, but that doesn't mean it's all plain sailing.
Honor's winning robot – "Lightning" – crashed into the barrier some 20 meters from the finish line, seeing a collection of engineers, running on to help – including one carrying a stretcher.
Lighting managed to get back to its feet, crossing the line and giving us a horrifying vision of the future where robots will be able to run down the fastest human, probably over any distance.
Speaking to Reuters, Du Xiaodi an engineer from the Honor team said: "Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer, for example, into structural reliability and cooling, and eventually industrial applications."
Du also said that the robot used the same sort of cooling system found in Honor's phones, giving some link back to present day.
A robot was torn apart during a half marathon in ChinaIt simply failed to notice an obstacle, crashed into it — and broke into pieces. Still a long way from being a “Terminator.”In the end, it had to be removed from the track, with a team brought in to evacuate what was left… pic.twitter.com/E2BEZtmBnWApril 18, 2026
While fears of a Terminator-style takeover by the machines is propped up by ever increasing advances in AI, the race provides some moments of levity, with plenty of robots literally crashing out, destroying themselves – or merely wandering around in what seems like a daze, an amazingly human thing to do.
China aims to lead the world in robotics and the big takeaway here is the huge improvement in performance: slashing the finishing time in half (and more) after just 12 months more of development is hugely impressive. And many of the robots competing did so autonomously, finding their own way around the course.
We'd best get Will Smith on the line.
