Two tech-empowered half marathons—2026 Dream Town Half Marathon and “Run with Light” 2026 Half Marathon—kicked off in Hangzhou and Longyou on March 29. The former ran in Yuhang District, and the latter started at Longyou Ecology Park.

Dream Town Half Marathon

The seventh edition of the Dream Town Half Marathon since its launch in 2018 drew over 220,000 runners from more than 20 countries and regions. This year’s race set a new record with 15,000 participants.

Born in a district known for energy, the event has always served as a testing ground for new technologies. After providing a real-world stage for the low-altitude economy last year, this year’s was a playground for AI. The smart Rokid Glasses from Lingban Technology, say, was a new contestant on the track. Weighing 49 grams, the glasses put AR and AI-driven scenes right before your eyes—an experience you’d never had before: the anchor used Rokid to livestream a first-person view of the race, medical staff used them to keep runners safe, volunteers and the security force used the glasses for more effective on-site check, referees used them as a real-time rule reminder to shot the evidence, and foreign athletes and coaches used Rokid for translation in talks.

This year’s half marathon also featured a smart tech season bringing together 19 tech firms, including Unitree, Deep Robotics, CoBrain, and Game Science. It was really a chance to get a feel for smart gadgets in the race.

“Run with Light” 2026 Half Marathon

The half marathon in Longyou, on the same day as that in Yuhang, drew more than 4,000 runners.

From start to finish, the event was packed with tech-driven surprises. The race kicked off with a drone show and saw techs and gadgets all along the way—smart robots waved to runners at a refreshment station near the Longyou Grottoes, offering cheers as they recharged themselves. “The opening felt so futuristic this year, and the robots...they ‘saw’ and waved to me like real persons. I felt so special,” said runner Yuan Aizhi.

Fang Yanfei, an officer at Longyou County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, explained that, since last year they introduced robots for the first time, they took a bold step this year—they ran along with human runners, served refreshments at the energy stations, and even sprayed mist to cool the athletes at the finish line. The variety of roles was a major step forward compared with last year’s. It has become a real tech-powered race, in another word.