Honor humanoid robot races marathon champions on a 20-meter track

On the morning of October 20, marathon runner Sabastian Sawe and trail runner Zhao Jiaju raced against Lightning, Honor's self-developed humanoid robot, on a 20-meter track. It was the robot's first offline race alongside human athletes.

Sawe is the first person to finish an official marathon in under 2 hours. Zhao won the 330km Tor des Geants race in Italy. Lightning won the Beijing Yizhuang humanoid robot half marathon on April 19 in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

Lightning stands 169cm tall and can sense and navigate on its own. For the World Humanoid Robot Games in August, its legs were lengthened to 1.05 meters. It uses liquid cooling, with 132 metal parts supplied by Lens Technology.

Honor set up a humanoid robot team in February 2025 with over 200 members. In March 2026, it released a consumer humanoid robot, becoming the first phone brand to enter this market, aiming at malls, factories, and homes.