For coaching or training plans: https://thewelshrunner.com/coaching
Is Puma’s bold claim legit — or just clever marketing?
They say the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 could save a 3-hour marathoner 4 and a half minutes. That sounded way too good to be true… so I tested it myself in a controlled lab environment.
In this video, I cover:
• The hype behind Puma’s claim
• The shoe’s perfromance
• My lab testing protocol
• The results
• What it all means for real-world runners
00:00 Intro
00:41 The Hype
02:06 Puma Lab testing
04:26 My lab Testing
05:48 Results
07:19 Discussion
12:17 Conclusions
A big thank you to Dan Osborn-Nash and the Sports Physiology Hub for testing me in the lab. Check out Dan's very insightful podcast 'The Physiology of Endurance Running podcast':
https://open.spotify.com/show/5Ve414ZvuCEiA1rlVvkP7f?si=aJtKc2TITwyoKNkDACvljw
SHOE TESTED: Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
Testing pace: 16kph
Conditions: Controlled treadmill + VO2 monitoring
If you’re chasing marginal gains, this might just change your race-day shoe choice. Not an AD. I bought the shoes and was just curious to see how they held up to the bold claims.
Study referenced:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.13.648601v1.full
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
To follow me:
Strava – https://www.strava.com/athletes/2584141
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thewelshrunner
X – https://x.com/thewelshrunner
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thewelshrunner
Blog – https://thewelshrunner.com