Think you can outrun a robot? Athletes in Beijing, China, recently tried to do just that in the first half-marathon ever held pitting humans against machines. For the 13.1-mile race, 21 humanoid robots—which are designed to look and move like people—joined 12,000 human runners. Robots could have their batteries replaced or be guided by remote control, but even with help, they weren’t a match for their human competitors. Some robots collapsed right after starting, and only six made it to the finish line. The first robot finisher took a stumble and needed three battery changes before it finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The fastest human runner clocked in at 1 hour and 2 minutes. But the robot companies weren’t discouraged. They said that they were more concerned with testing machine skills such as navigation and endurance than with winning the race. The human competitors were focused on making history.