Organisers of the Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon have confirmed that the second edition of the event featuring humanoid robots will be held next month, with human runners sharing the course with their mechanised counterparts once again.

As described by the organisers, “human athletes and robots will compete on the same course”, with the two groups starting the race together on April 19 in Beijing E-Town, with the finish line set in Nanhaizi Park.

On the robots’ side, more than 300 humanoid machines will compete in the Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, representing at least 100 company and university teams, with at least one team from Hong Kong.

The total is a five-time increase from last year’s figure.

Competing robots must be stand-alone units with a torso, upper limbs and two feet, standing over 70 centimetres tall and using bipedal running as their core mode of movement.

The race features two categories – autonomous navigation and remote control – with mixed timing and a single ranking.