Interesting to see some of the pros wearing Men’s PUMA Fast-R NITRO Elite 3 Melt/Speed Blue shoe, including Magnus who always wore Nike. The new super shoe?. A Nike killer?
Sorry forgot to add Puma race shoes. I cut and pasted the shoe name. I am not that familiar with the brand, any good anyone compared to other carbon plated wonder shoes?
It’s supposed to be the fastest shoe in the world right now. 3.5% faster than nike - https://www.letsrun.com/news/2025/04/puma-elite-athletes-rave-about-the-new-fast-r-nitro-elite-3-supe-shoe-after-they-race-in-them-for-1st-time-in-boston/
They are amazing to run in. Going from alpha flys to them is like going from Pegasus to 4%
How do u think they would feel for a marathon?
I’ve worn them in training once as am saving them for a marathon in November. Am going do a 5km in them soon. They feel a bit unstable so you may want consider strengthening Achilles and calves which is something I also found when I first started using 4%s. But it may just be a matter of getting used to them.
Ie use them a bit in training before you race in them
But yes the paces I ran in them felt effortless which can only be a good thing for a marathon.
There’s some chat about these shoes in the Frankfurt thread. Apparently fast but do cause some fatigue over the longer distances compared with some of the other options - and potentially more of a 10K shoe.
Keen to try them though!
Watched a video, can’t remember where, the efficiency was circa 2% better for this specific runner over AF and Evo2.
This guy was also struggling with a hip injury post race and reading everything else this might be related.
I wore them at Eagleman running my fastest time for 6 years (and I am 54) - my legs were wrecked for about a week
I would go back to Alphafly for a full
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Interesting. Given you ran your fastest time in 6 years would it be worth accepting the leg pain? Or are you thinking for a full the back half might end in tears given how much they seem to beat up your legs?
So the pro move is to wear the alphaflys for the first half, and then switch to the puma at special needs!
I keep going back and forth on this shoe. Racing Nice and I’m going to use my current set of alphafly 3, which has done a full and two halfs. Then I have IM Arizona about 10 weeks later that’s my A-race to qualify for Kona. I have a new pair of AF3 all set for that. Do I scrap it and go with the Puma for the A race and risk the consequences?
Of all the brands, something about Puma has me feeling it’s pretty hacky, and I have this vibe I’ll end up limping the last 5 miles.
Is there anyone who has run these over a marathon and said their legs felt “fine” (relatively speaking) afterwards?
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I’m not so concerned about ‘afterwards’, my legs are always beat up regardless. I’m concerned about getting half way and experiencing abnormal pain that could hinder the finish. No point setting a record half only to hobble the back half home
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I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into an N=1 random “my legs hurt after” comment. That’s just pushing your fitness. If you have no practical way to test them out before IMAZ I wouldn’t take that chance.
Just a follow up with an article I’ve come across.
I was shocked to see Rory push Clayton Young to his limits and then pass him considering that Young has always beaten him before. I half wondered if something fishy was going on with Rory’s recent trips to Flagstaff because the gain seemed surprising to attribute just to an altitude camp. For some reason I’m now willing to accept the shoe (plus training obviously) made the difference.
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I went ahead and drank the koolaid and bought a pair of the Fast-R’s. They arrived yesterday just in time for my weekly tempo treadmill workout I have each Tuesday. This has been a staple workout for me for a while. Starts with a 15 min warm up followed by 5 x 8min at 6:30 pace with 2 min float between reps then finishes off with a 10 min cool down.
This week I wanted to compare my current race day shoe with the Puma as a lead into Ironman California. As a M30-34 and not getting any help with the timing aggregate, I know I’ll have to be fast to grab a KQ slot.
Rep 1 - Alphafly 3
6:31 pace or 9.2mph
Heart Rate - 161
Lactate - 1.8
Rep 2 - Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
6:31 pace or 9.2mph
Heart Rate - 159
Lactate - 1.1
Rep 3 - Alphafly 3
6:31 pace or 9.2mph
Heart Rate - 159
Lactate - 1.4
Rep 4-Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
6:31 pace or 9.2mph
Heart Rate - 155
Lactate - 1.1
Rep 5 - Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
6:15 pace or 9.6mph
Heart Rate - 159
Lactate - 1.6
(last rep I turned the pace up to see where my lactate would be if I ran to the same average heart rate as I was seeing with the Alphaflys.
Also, based on what my Garmin 600 HRM is showing, my average respiration rate looks to be a good bit less in the Pumas vs the Alphaflys. Would seem as though the efficiency metrics stated by Puma could very well be true. Again, this is not lab tested and data pics up by a HRM, but it did match my perception as well.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first go in the Pumas. They felt so much lighter than the Alphafly 3’s. In the Nikes, I felt as though I was wasting energy by having more vertical bounce in my run stride, where the Pumas just wanted to propel me forward. The weight was something I could feel as well. The extra weight in the Nikes was noticeable in my quads at minute 5 of each rep where as with the Pumas I felt nothing. The first minute or so with the Puma did feel a bit more unstable in the heel as there is far less support, but after getting going, I honestly didnt notice it at all. I will be doing 1-2 more comparison runs with these prior to race day to ensure the Puma is the right choice, but for the moment, I’m liking what I see. As I mentioned, the goal is a KQ so I’ll take the fastest shoe possible and if that means I can’t walk well for a few extra days (based on what some people have stated about the Puma), so be it.
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Great test. Thanks for the details. You’re not making my decision to hold off any easier.
What’s your feeling about stability cornering and on hard pack trail with a slightly fine/loose layer of dirt/sand like is found on many city jogging paths? IM AZ has a bit of that, and I assume it’s still ok to run on these with it, but I’m giving myself every reason to save some money. Hah!
I plan on getting outside with them in the next week to give them a test on stability. I will say they don’t feel the most stable on the heel, but as midfoot/forefoot runner, I don’t think there will be any instability issues. The upper makes the shoe feel like a sock, so it feels extremely connected to my foot. The alphafly’s feel much more bulky in comparison and therefore almost feel like you’d lose a bit of nimbleness.
I have a feeling there wouldn’t be any issues, but will report back. Was going to take them for a spin outside after my treadmill workout today after checking the temp, said no thanks.
Out of all the reviews I read/saw, this one seems to do a good job at explaining how this shoe is different and why. First part, starting at 2:50
Could someone comment on the sizing compared to the AF3?
I use a 12 in Vaporfly, and a 12.5 in AF3…
Thx!