First the Nike Vaporfly made headlines 8 years ago by being the first shoe to fulfill the promise of running a marathon in less than 2 hours. They succeeded by running on a curated course in France under perfect conditions. The shoe was unique in that is used a copper plate design. She shoe has been a hit and others have followed designing the next fastest shoe using copper plating. According to runners I work with, the shoes feel strange when you walk in them but for running, they can help you improve times over your 26 miles. Efficiencies of 4% over a marathon can improve times significantly. This past week, Puma has premiered their new shoe called the FAST-R NITRO™ ELITE 3 and developed teams as a moving advertisement for the shoe The third iteration of the company’s Fast-R shoe, which launched publicly in April for the Boston and London marathons and retail for $300 dls. 100 sub-elite athletes have been recruited for the New York marathon. They are targeting sub-three-hour performances, and Puma, as part of what it calls ‘Project3’, gave those athletes Fast-R 3 shoes to train and race in. Puma says 69 (just over one-third) of the runners bettered their personal bests. Thirty-eight Project3 athletes improved their PBs by at least three minutes, a target for which Puma paid $3,000 (about £2,250) to each athlete — the sportswear company gave out a six-figure total in prize money. At the NY marathon, PUMA’s Project3 runners continued to make waves as they took to the streets of New York City and shaved a combined 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 15 seconds off their personal best times at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. A total of 89 Project3 runners from seven countries including the United States, Australia, Spain, United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Denmark, took on the iconic 26.2-mile course across the five boroughs, all wearing PUMA’s fastest innovation yet, the FAST-R NITRO™ ELITE 3, producing staggering results in the process. 29 runners set new personal bests, with 10 improving by more than three minutes, making them eligible for the astonishing $3,000 cash prize. In total, PUMA will award $40,000 in performance-based prize money. Will all of this promotion make Fast R Nitro Elite 3 the newest must have shoe for your next marathon? Time will tell.