This week, Puma staged their Puma 418 relay, a race from the brand’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach to Berlin.

The race marked the opening of the Puma Nitro Lab in Berlin ahead of this weekend’s marathon, which showcases Puma's latest performance footwear and apparel.

Located at the 39km mark on the marathon course, the NITRO™ Lab is a thriving hub of activity, with challenges, customisation and product giveaways across marathon weekend. Runners will be thrilled to hear that the 1km Treadmill Challenge is also back, giving you the chance to win an exclusive pair of Deviate NITRO™ Elite 4 - so long as you can run 1km in under four minutes.

There will also be multiple chances to bag additional PUMA merchandise, including items from the exclusive collaboration with Another Cotton Lab.

The PUMA x Another Cotton Lab collaboration brings together performance and the running culture cultivated by Sunday Running Club, founded by Another Cotton Lab and now one of Europe’s biggest run clubs. Born from years of Sunday miles, coffee stops and community, the collection brings Another Cotton Lab’s signature pink and coffee-inspired aesthetic together into a full range of apparel. At the centre is a fresh take on the PUMA Deviate Pure NITRO™, bridging lifestyle and performance for a community that runs not just to perform, but to belong.

On race day, PUMA will welcome more than 200 athletes to the start line as part of its groundbreaking PROJECT3 running program. Athletes representing 19 countries from across the globe have been supported by PUMA in the lead-up to the marathon and will be chasing down PBs in the latest PUMA performance footwear and apparel. As an added incentive to break their existing PBs, any PROJECT3 athlete who beats their previous marathon personal best time by three minutes or more will be awarded $3000 in performance-based prize money.

Following Berlin, PUMA is set to take The NITRO™ Lab stateside, with an exclusive pop-up at the Chicago Marathon.

PUMA 418 Relay

The race was between four teams, each made up of seven athletes. As well as Puma’s Project 3 team, a team made up of athletes who had previously taken part in their Project 3 marathon initiative, were teams from Dryll, Another Cotton Lab and Running Society Germany.

The rules were simple: using any format you like, race to Berlin; just don’t stop. No sleep, just keep going. A runner in a team drops out, keep going.

AW's Product Editor, Paul Freary, was racing as part of Team Project 3, having previously run the Boston Marathon to finish his 6-star Marathon Majors journey in 2025 with Puma.

“The race represented a difficult challenge for everyone, not least logistically," he explained. "With no set rules on how far each runner would undertake every time they ran, it was difficult to plan a set routine. We also had to plan our route as we went, and being somewhat unfamiliar with the German countryside, that in itself was another hurdle.

“We decided that we would start by each running for one hour, to maximise recovery. With 7 runners in the team, this would give us six hours to recover between each of our runs.

"From the off, it became clear the other teams had different plans. Only 1km up the road, two teams just ahead of me switched out their runners for fresh legs and then again, a further kilometre ahead!

"As the race progressed, we switched tactics and changed the distance each of our team ran from between 1km to 8km based on how each of us was feeling.

"Racing through the night, the temperature dropped just as we had over 12 hours of racing already behind us. It was without doubt one of the toughest events I’ve ever taken part in, but being part of a team of like-minded runners is what makes relay races such a brilliant part of running.”

Team Running Society were first home in just over 27 hours, followed by Another Cotton Lab in second and Team Project 3 in third place.

“While we didn’t win the event, we did make lasting friendships along the way and took away more motivation to keep on running and keep in touch as part of our Project 3 family,” Freary said.

Project 3

Puma Project 3 is an initiative that supports ‘sub-elite’ athletes in their quest for a marathon PB. The project began in spring of 2026 by supporting athletes at various races and marathon majors events throughout the year. Project 3 provides runners with training help and advice, as well as rewarding them with kit and prize money based on their performance.

To find out how to join Puma Project 3, click here Project 3

The Puma 418 event was supported by Porsche and Uber Fresh, Germany