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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

Brooks Hyperion Elite 5vs
PUMA Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

Hyperion Elite 5

approx £151

Estimated street price · £230 RRP

39mm — road legal
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

£260

Typical street price · £260 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Hyperion Elite 5 if…

  • You want something more forgiving. This is the steadier platform — useful if your form goes late, or if you are on your feet longer.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £151 against £260, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.5–4.7% economy gain against 2.8–3.9%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 170g against 196g, a 26g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Hyperion Elite 5's are estimated.

What does this
mean for you?

Every figure below is recalculated from your race and your current time. The gap between two shoes is not fixed — it grows with how long you are on your feet.

Over marathon from 3:45:00

Time back
Hyperion Elite 5: 138s–213sFast-R Nitro Elite 3: 186s–266s
Cost per second saved
Hyperion Elite 5: £0.19Fast-R Nitro Elite 3: £0.30

Ranges, not promises. Both figures are against a standard trainer, and the honest answer for most runners is that the difference between two shoes of this class is smaller than the difference a month of decent training makes.

Every number.

010203040503931
Hyperion Elite 5
010203040503931
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Hyperion Elite 5~£151■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.

RRP
Hyperion Elite 5£230
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.

Cost per race
Hyperion Elite 5£34■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£69

Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.

Cost per second saved
Hyperion Elite 5£0.19■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£0.30

The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.

What it does

Estimated saving
Hyperion Elite 5138s–213s
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3186s–266s■

Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.

Economy gain
Hyperion Elite 52.8–3.9%
Fast-R Nitro Elite 33.5–4.7%■
Built for
Hyperion Elite 510K · Half · Marathon
Fast-R Nitro Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Hyperion Elite 5Unfashionable and quietly good. Firmer and more controlled than most of the field, which suits heel strikers and heavier runners.
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3The most aggressive shoe on this list. The decoupled heel and exposed plate make it feel like it is actively throwing you forward.

How it is built

Weight
Hyperion Elite 5196 g
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3170 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Hyperion Elite 539 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 339 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Hyperion Elite 531 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 331 mm
Drop
Hyperion Elite 58 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 38 mm
Foam
Hyperion Elite 5DNA Flash v2
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Plate
Hyperion Elite 5carbon fibre
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Hyperion Elite 5Yes (39 mm)
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3Yes (39 mm)

World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.

Fit
Hyperion Elite 5standard
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3standard
Stability
Hyperion Elite 5stable
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3demanding

Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.

Race life
Hyperion Elite 5~280 km■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3~240 km

How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.

Data confidence
Hyperion Elite 5estimated
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3verified■

■ marks the better figure where one is genuinely better. Fit, foam, drop and stability carry no mark — they depend on your foot and your stride, not on which shoe is superior.

In your size.

Where to buy

Your UK size

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£182at Upandrunning — £78 under RRP

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.