Free shoes in New York. PUMA is bringing its NITRO Lab to the city for marathon weekend, and anyone who runs 1K in under four minutes wins a pair of the Fast-R NITRO Elite 3. I was at the NITRO Lab in Los Angeles during the World Cup this summer, and it was a wild experience.
Where to Get It
The NYC NITRO Lab sets up at Seaport Square on Pier 16 on Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On race day, Sunday, November 1, the Lab goes mobile at spots across the city, so runners can take the challenge right after they finish.
Run 1K in under four minutes, and the $300 shoe is yours. If you've been running and you're ready, this is a great opportunity.
PUMA FAST-R NITRO Elite 3
The prize is the Fast-R NITRO Elite 3. PUMA calls it the fastest running shoe it has ever made. It debuted at the Boston Marathon in 2025 and sold out right away.
PUMA pros Rory Linkletter and Annie Frisbee raced in it, and Taylor Roe, Patrick Dever, and Amon Kemboi all reached the podium in it at the Boston 5K and Mile. It retails for $300.
Performance Technology
PUMA cut 95 grams from the last version, so a men's size 9 weighs about 170 grams (close to a smartphone). The midsole is NITROFOAM ELITE, foam infused with nitrogen. The gas leaves tiny air pockets that squeeze when you land and spring back as you push off. The heel sits at 40mm, the most World Athletics allows, with an 8mm drop to the forefoot.
The carbon PWRPLATE is a stiff sheet inside the foam that acts like a lever, snapping you into the next step. In a University of Massachusetts Amherst study, runners used 3.15% less energy at the same pace than in the previous model. PUMA says that adds up to more than four and a half minutes over a three-hour marathon.
PUMA Lab
The NITRO Lab started as a testing facility in Dillenburg, Germany, built with Hartmann Orthopedics & Sports. PUMA athletes go there to measure how efficiently they run in different shoes, and that data shapes the next model. The first iterations in Paris, Tokyo, and London focused on running.
Los Angeles was the first in the U.S., and it was built for soccer. This fall, it returned to running. In Berlin, the Lab sat at the 39km mark of the marathon course, and runners who broke four minutes for 1K could win the Deviate NITRO Elite 4. Chicago followed during marathon weekend.
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