HOW PUMA’S PROJECT3 REIGNITED THE PASSION FOR RUNNING
For Carina, it meant rediscovering her confidence. For Liam, PUMA’s NITRO™ technology opened a new.
October 23, 2026
What if you could join a programme that could be a complete game changer for your running? Ambitious amateur runners Carina Li and Liam McCarthy had reached a stage where they wanted to take their running to the next level but found themselves stuck. Both joined PUMA’s PROJECT3, a programme that gives ambitious amateur runners access to professional-level support, equipment and expertise. The results were incredible: Apart from setting new PBs, the project boosted their confidence and gave them a new sense of what’s possible.
CARINA: SEVEN YEARS WITHOUT A PERSONAL BEST
As Carina Li made the final turn past Buckingham Palace during the 2026 London Marathon, she suddenly started to cry. With just 400 meters to go, the emotions caught up with her.
To understand why, you have to go back seven years.
To understand why, you have to go back seven years.
Carina Li (22) from Skillman, New Jersey
In autumn 2018, Carina had set a personal best. But despite training consistently since then, she stopped getting faster. For a while, she even became significantly slower.
“I honestly hadn’t held onto the hope that I would ever be particularly good at running,” she admits.
But she never stopped loving the sport and kept going.
“I honestly hadn’t held onto the hope that I would ever be particularly good at running,” she admits.
But she never stopped loving the sport and kept going.
“I honestly hadn’t held onto the hope that I would ever be particularly good at running.”
Carina Li, PROJECT3 athlete, London Marathon 2026
Carina Li, PROJECT3 athlete, London Marathon 2026
When she applied for PROJECT3, she had met the qualifying time by just one minute.
Through PROJECT3, Carina gained access to nutrition and sports psychology experts, exchanged experiences with other ambitious runners and discovered something she had been missing: confidence in her own potential.
“I was often scared to share my running goals with others because I felt I wasn’t good enough to be taken seriously,” she says.
That began to change when she realised others believed in her abilities. And the confidence extended beyond running. While completing her Master’s degree, Carina applied for a research position she really wanted, despite doubting whether she met all the requirements. She got the job. “The biggest thing Project 3 has changed for me is my confidence,” she says.
Through PROJECT3, Carina gained access to nutrition and sports psychology experts, exchanged experiences with other ambitious runners and discovered something she had been missing: confidence in her own potential.
“I was often scared to share my running goals with others because I felt I wasn’t good enough to be taken seriously,” she says.
That began to change when she realised others believed in her abilities. And the confidence extended beyond running. While completing her Master’s degree, Carina applied for a research position she really wanted, despite doubting whether she met all the requirements. She got the job. “The biggest thing Project 3 has changed for me is my confidence,” she says.
Carina at the London Marathon 2026
Back in London, Carina had started the race hoping to break three hours. At halfway, she felt remarkably strong, but she knew how quickly things could go wrong. Only after 20 miles did she allow herself to believe she could do it.
And then came that final turn by Buckingham Palace.
And then came that final turn by Buckingham Palace.
“The biggest thing Project 3 has changed for me is my confidence.”
The 400-meter sign appeared. Carina realised she was not only going to break three hours – she was about to finish in under 2:55. After seven years without a personal best, countless setbacks and hours spent training on a indoor stair machine, she was achieving something she had almost stopped believing possible.
And perhaps that was what made the moment so overwhelming: she wasn’t just running faster than ever before. She was having more fun than in any race she had ever run. She crossed the finish line in 2:54:07 – improving her previous marathon best by 19 minutes and 48 seconds.
Her next challenge is Boston 2027. She hopes to run in the 2:40s and find the right balance between running and her new full-time job.
After seven years of doubting how far she could go, Carina is finally believing in herself again and is allowing herself to dream bigger again.
Her next challenge is Boston 2027. She hopes to run in the 2:40s and find the right balance between running and her new full-time job.
After seven years of doubting how far she could go, Carina is finally believing in herself again and is allowing herself to dream bigger again.
LIAM: 26 MARATHONS – AND STILL LEARNING
After 26 marathons and competing in all six World Marathon Majors, Liam McCarthy knew the distance inside out. But experience had also brought routine: the same roads, the same shoes, one training block increasingly resembling the last. And after becoming a father in 2024, he hadn’t expected to become more adventurous – or faster.
Then PROJECT3 came along.
Then PROJECT3 came along.
Liam McCarthy (38) from Manchester, UK
Selected for the first cohort in 2025, Liam saw an opportunity to rethink his approach. Access to PUMA’s latest product innovations and sessions with nutrition and sports psychology experts gave him fresh motivation. “PROJECT3 put me firmly back in the seat of a learner,” he says.
“PROJECT3 put me firmly back in the seat of a learner.”
Liam McCarthy, PROJECT3 athlete,
Boston and London 2025, London and Berlin 2026
Liam McCarthy, PROJECT3 athlete,
Boston and London 2025, London and Berlin 2026
And then there was the shoe.
In March 2025, Liam returned from the Tokyo Marathon, where he had earned his Six Star Medal, to find his first PUMA package waiting for him. Inside was the Fast-R NITRO™ Elite 3 – a shoe that, at the time, felt almost top-secret.
Already the first try, just some days after Tokyo, impressed him.
In March 2025, Liam returned from the Tokyo Marathon, where he had earned his Six Star Medal, to find his first PUMA package waiting for him. Inside was the Fast-R NITRO™ Elite 3 – a shoe that, at the time, felt almost top-secret.
Already the first try, just some days after Tokyo, impressed him.
Liam and his family celebrating his PB at Boston Marathon 2025
Weeks later, he tackled Boston’s Newton Hills and reached Boylston Street just in time to claim the PROJECT3 personal-best bonus. The Fast-R NITRO™ Elite 3 has carried him to his two fastest marathon finishes: 2:41:53 in Boston and 2:43:10 in Berlin.
Liam’s biggest discovery was that even after so many years of running, there was still room to experiment and improve. He has since moved from coaching himself to working with PUMA athlete Dakotah Popehn, with the aim of breaking 2:40 at the Berlin Marathon in 2027.
“PROJECT3 has taught me the value in showing up and committing consistently despite no guarantees of success.”
And there is someone else he hopes will take something from the experience: his daughter Poppy, born in 2024, who has grown up alongside his PROJECT3 journey.
For Liam, the most important lesson is not that every ambitious goal will be achieved. “PROJECT3 has taught me the value in showing up and committing consistently despite no guarantees of success.”
A lesson he hopes Poppy will carry with her long after his next finish line.
For Liam, the most important lesson is not that every ambitious goal will be achieved. “PROJECT3 has taught me the value in showing up and committing consistently despite no guarantees of success.”
A lesson he hopes Poppy will carry with her long after his next finish line.
