PUMA will pay out $171,000 in prize money after its Project3 runners delivered show-stopping performances at the London Marathon.
Following a hugely successful launch last year, and a record-breaking payout of $63,000 at last week’s Boston Marathon, Project3 returned to London and delivered the goods yet again for sub-elite runners.
In total, 176 participants from 16 countries raced across the capital city wearing PUMA’s Fast-R NITRO™ Elite 3 or Deviate NITRO™ Elite 4 as part of the ground-breaking running programme.
Of the total group, 84 runners secured a new personal best, with 54 smashing their previous record time by over 3 minutes, meaning they each secured a $3,000 performance-based prize from PUMA – more than is awarded to the top 3 elite runners.
With an unprecedented number of achievements, it was Chris Perry who finished as the first male (2:13:41) with a PB improvement by more than a minute. The fastest female runner was Katrina Ballantyne-Chalmers (2:35:32) who also beat her previous PB. The biggest time improvement was Carina Li who knocked a total of 19 minutes and 48 seconds off her PB.
Speaking at The NITRO™ Lab after the race, Katrina Ballantyne-Chalmers said: “Being part of Project3 has been amazing. There’s been such a great sense of community – engaging with the other athletes, as well as getting support and mentorship from PUMA. I wasn’t expecting to be the first female finisher so it feels a bit surreal right now. The encouragement from the crowd today really helped to push me on – what a day!”
In total, Project3 runners collectively knocked a stunning 6 hours, 21 minutes and 55 seconds off their previous records in what is the biggest time improvement ever recorded for the programme.
The record-breaking totals mean that PUMA has now paid out almost a quarter of a million dollars to Project3 runners in 2026. Since launch the program has now hosted over 600 runners paying out almost $400,000 in prize money.
