marathon

i came across this news story the other day out of osaka, japan. robotics companies developed these knee-high humanoid type robots to go the distance of a scaled marathon, a 26 mile course at their tiny scaled down size. i don't know why, but this idea intrigued me.
as i watched the warm-ups some of these little guys had been programmed to stretch before the race making more of an attempt to humanize themselves. when they fell over they had to be able to right themselves. as they walked/ran around the little track again and again following a colored marker with their light sensor i thought about the real marathoners. the humans i mean.
i imagined what it must be like at mile 18 when your body is feasting on itself demanding and crying out that you stop the madness, and the will locked up with emotion required to press on. when the little robots ran out of juice their creators were allowed to simply replace their batteries and they were off again. i thought about the endless train of thought that must go on for people as they battle the elements, navigate the other runners and all the while stay in tune with their bodies. what were these robots thinking about as they pressed on?
and then i thought too about ibm's watson on the recent jeopardy tournament and how it destroyed the field. this combination of intelligence and stamina that we are building into our little automatons is reaching new levels and what it means for the future who can say. but the more these creations take on the characteristics of their creators, the less human i feel. and yet, somehow i find myself emoting through them.