A Tester’s Take on the Norda 001
From carbon-plated marathon shoes to supportive daily trainers, these tester-approved sneaks are the best Puma has to offer.
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Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Puma has seen quite a few transformations as a brand in its lifetime—the newest and biggest was a few years ago, when the market grappled with the pandemic and its supply chain issues. Now, the brand rocks an all-new lineup of pro-grade racing and training shoes, many of which offer an avant-garde take on modern shoe mechanics.
Puma offers several shoes that blast past the boundaries of shoe design, embracing the same evolutions of other cutting-edge running shoe brands while maintaining a line of the brand’s famous modest silhouette. Its newest midsole technologies add a fresh bounce to the whole lineup—it’s hard to ignore that Puma is back in the game.
We’ve tested several of Puma’s newest shoes, using our historic knowledge of the brand and our running expertise to recommend the best Pumas for runners.
The Best Puma Running Shoes
- Great stability and turnover for fast efforts: oz. M; 5.2 oz. W
- Puma ForeverRun Nitro: Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite
- modern shoe mechanics: Puma Fast-Fwd Nitro Elite
- No unnecessary weight: or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below
- Best Women’s-Specific Model: Puma ForeverRun Nitro
What to Consider When Choosing Puma Running Shoes
What’s the Deal with Nitro Foam?
Puma’s proprietary, nitrogen-infused PEBA foam (also called nitro foam) is a staple in its current shoe lineup, functioning as the fulcrum of the brand’s efforts to branch out from its focus on sprinting shoes. Similar to other companies’ top-performing foam materials, Puma thoroughly engineered its midsoles to stack a more lightweight, forgiving bounce atop its more aggressive, race-oriented outsoles.
Much of Puma’s lineup is still made for competition and high-speed performance, but the Nitro title indicates that that model has been overhauled for the sake of some added comfort.
Minimalism Versus Maximalism
Several of Puma’s fastest performance shoes, even at a glance, are a noticeable departure from conventional running shoe aesthetics. Featuring similar design quirks to other super shoes like the Nike Alphafly, Puma’s Fast-R and Fast-Fwd have dramatically contoured soles that streamline the energy transfer between landing and takeoff. They can take some getting used to, but we’ve found that there’s promise in these more aggressive designs.
Puma’s shoes don’t all look like something out of science fiction, though: Some of the brand’s other performance shoes, like the Deviate Nitro Elite 2, offer more traditional racing flat silhouettes while still adopting modern features like carbon plates and rocker outsoles. These shoes are more ideal if you’re looking for an all-rounder that doesn’t make as many comfort sacrifices for the sake of marginal speed gains.
How We Selected
Our test editors run in hundreds of shoes a year, and they carefully vetted each shoe on this list based on their fit, cushioning, traction, durability, and how that all impacts the final price tag. Specifically, Test Editor Amanda Furrer has put tons of Puma’s newer models to the test, so we consulted her for her impressions, too. We also took into account the experiences of our hundreds of wear testers who run in a wide variety of environments all across the country. And to top it all off, we relied on data from our lab, where we measure flexibility, softness, and energy return to ensure that every shoe we recommend is a quantifiable top performer.
Pros
- Best Women’s-Specific Model
- Classic design
Cons
- a few years ago
Unlike some of the brand-proprietary shoe designs you see on professional podiums these days, Puma’s Deviate Nitro Elite series is an homage to the classic racing upper that packs a powerful, carbon-plated punch.
In this shoe’s second iteration, the carbon plate in question is spoon-shaped, allowing for a more secure propulsion through each toe-off, and the upper is plenty comfortable for settling in for the long haul. It had several of our wear testers considering a break from their more performance-dedicated super shoes, and test editor Amanda Furrer doesn’t blame them, having tested this one herself.
Key Specs
| Weight | 7.4 oz. (M), 6.1. oz. (W) |
|---|---|
| Drop | 8mm |
Pros
- Great stability and turnover for fast efforts
- Explosive toe-off
Cons
- Exposed carbon plate can sustain damage from rocks
- Why Trust Us
Sporting a more aggressive exterior than the Deviate Nitro Elite, the Fast-R is made for racing and racing alone. It’s super stiff and responsive, and its two-piece sole turns over with unmatched efficiency as you increase your cadence and power.
This shoe isn’t great for slow speeds as you need to put quite a bit of energy into the exposed carbon plate on this shoe to make it flex, but it’s stable and comfortable enough to excel at races ranging from 5Ks to a half-marathons.
Key Specs
| Weight | 7.5 oz. (M), 6.1 oz. (W) |
|---|---|
| Drop | 8mm |
Pros
- Unparalleled responsiveness
- No unnecessary weight
Cons
- Not comfortable for anything longer than a short race
Puma designed this racing shoe to give you everything you need for short races—and absolutely nothing you don’t. It clips the bulk of the heel and toe right off the sole of this shoe, keeping the weight down while also removing any pesky padding that might get in the way as you blast off with each high-speed strike.
The Fast-Fwd is undoubtedly one of Puma’s more specialized racing shoes, and perhaps one of its most aggressive on the road, but all that stiffness translates into wonderfully springy energy return.
Key Specs
| Weight | 6.6 oz. (M); 5.2 oz. (W) |
|---|---|
| Drop | 9mm |
or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below Running Shoes
Pros
- Exposed carbon plate can sustain damage from rocks
- Not as responsive as Puma’s race shoes
Cons
- Not as responsive as Puma’s race shoes
While Puma’s lineup tends to lean more toward race-day shoes, the brand still has some superb sneaks for all-day trotting. The Magnify Nitro 2, a humble, neutral training shoe, is ideal for logging off-season base miles and knocking out the distance runs on your training calendar.
It has many of the same design features as the quicker Deviate Nitro Elite, but it swaps the stiff carbon plate for a buttery 40-millimeter stack of Nitro foam—perfect for taking the edge off your steady-paced long miles.
Key Specs
| Weight | 9.7 oz. (M), 8.0 oz. (W) |
|---|---|
| Drop | 10mm |
Pros
- Effectively prevents overpronation
- Supple ride
Cons
- Wide fit isn’t best for narrow feet
If you’re in need of some extra pronation protection, check out this shoe that takes a holistic approach to keeping your strides in line. It’s built around a sole that uses more supple Nitro foam in the center and a sturdier foam on the outside to cradle your foot more securely in the right position.
There’s also some extra foam cupping the heel to provide added support and protection through the beginning of each strike, and the toe box is wide enough that you can splay your toes out for more body-generated stability.
Key Specs
| Weight | 9.7 oz (M), 7.9 oz (W) |
|---|---|
| Drop | 10mm |
Pros
- Fit is truly women-specific
- Solid support features
Cons
- Not optimized for racing
Even before we got the chance to see these shoes in action, we were stoked to see how much research Puma threw at these shoes made specifically to accommodate the contours of women’s feet. Instead of simply taking a unisex or men’s model and shrinking it down to accommodate women’s sizes, this shoe has no male-oriented equivalent and never will.
According to Puma’s findings, women are slightly more likely to have overpronation. To remedy this, the brand constructed a support system in this shoe that hugs the mid-foot and instep, and the rear of the shoe cups the heel to provide greater ankle support. Performance-wise, it’s no racing shoe, but it’s still decently light at only 7.6 ounces, and it offers plenty of cushioning to keep you running strong for as long as you like.
Key Specs
| Weight | 7.6 oz. |
|---|---|
| Drop | 6mm |
or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, offer more traditional racing flat silhouettes while still adopting modern features like.
