A Very High-Tech 5K Is Coming Back to Cambridge

Last year’s Robot Race. Photo provided

There’s no shortage of weird creative road races these days, from color runs to costumed jaunts. See also: the second annual Vecna Robot Race and Human 5K, to be held April 10.

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The day starts out normally enough, with a kids’ run and a typical human 5K around the streets of Cambridge—with the option to dress as a robot, naturally. When that wraps up, it gets a little more out-there.

Participants are invited to enter tele-operated, autonomous, or mini home-built bots (which must meet these specifications) in track sprints of varying lengths. Eventually, the founders say, the goal is to have robots competing alongside people in the human race. In short, there’s a very real chance your 5K performance could someday be shown up by a robot.

Individual registration, for humans or robots, is $25 leading up to race day. All proceeds benefit Vecna Cares, a charitable branch of the robotics company that uses technology to improve healthcare in underserved areas of the world.

$25, 4/10, 9:45 a.m. 36 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge. Register here.