Long before running data lived on our wrists and phones, PUMA decided to put the computer directly into the shoe.
Today, tracking a run feels completely normal.
You put your watch on, press start and head out the door. By the time you’re home, you can know your distance, pace, calories, heart rate, elevation and probably another 20 things you didn’t necessarily need to know.
Then it gets uploaded to Strava so everyone else knows you went for a run too.
In the mid-1980s, things were slightly different.
PUMA was already asking essentially the same question though: what if your running shoe could tell you what you just did?
The answer was the RS-Computer.
A computer. In your shoe.
PUMA’s RS stood for Running System, a performance footwear programme developed during the 1980s. The company says the RS cushioning system was developed in 1985, combining different components within the midsole to provide shock absorption and motion control.
From that project came something considerably stranger.
Working with the University of Erlangen and biomechanics researcher Professor Dr Peter Cavanagh, PUMA developed what it describes as the world’s first shoe with integrated computer technology.
Instead of wearing a separate device, the electronics were incorporated into the heel of the RS-Computer.
And you definitely knew they were there.
Looking at the shoe now, the oversized computer hanging from the back almost makes it look like a prop somebody in 1986 designed after being asked what footwear would look like in the year 2000.
But it actually worked.
So what did it track?
The RS-Computer could record information from a runner and use that data to calculate things including distance, time and calories burned.
That probably doesn’t sound particularly impressive in 2026.
That’s almost the point.
We’re so accustomed to having this information available instantly that it’s difficult to imagine a period when tracking a run digitally was genuinely strange.
And accessing the information was probably the best part.
There was no phone.
No Bluetooth.
No app.
When you finished running, you took your computer shoe home and plugged it into your actual computer.
Plug your PUMAs into the computer
Using a 16-pin connection, data from the RS-Computer could be transferred to machines including the Apple IIe and Commodore 64.
Just imagine that process for a second.
Go for a run.
Come home.
Sit down at your Commodore 64.
Plug your shoe into it.
Check your stats.
It’s such a distinctly 1980s solution to a problem that we still have today.
Cavanagh later explained that runners could download the information, compare it with calibration data and add it to their personal tracking history. The software allowed them to examine distance over periods including weeks, months and years, as well as calculate the caloric cost of their running.
Strip away the beige computer, floppy disks and cable and the underlying idea suddenly doesn’t feel very old at all.
It’s basically the behaviour that millions of runners now take for granted.
The funny part is that people didn’t understand why they needed it
This might be my favourite part of the entire story.
According to Cavanagh, the reaction when the technology was demonstrated wasn’t necessarily that everybody immediately understood the future.
People questioned the point.
Why would someone need to know how far they had run? Why would they need to know how fast? Why track calories?
Which sounds ridiculous now.
Cavanagh compared the idea to buying a car without a speedometer or odometer. He predicted that eventually runners wouldn’t want to go running without knowing this information.
His prediction was basically correct.
His timing was just a little early.
Then everyone started tracking everything
The technology around the RS-Computer obviously looks primitive compared with what we have today, but the behaviour it anticipated is everywhere.
Garmin.
Apple Watch.
WHOOP.
Strava.
Nike Run Club.
Your phone counting how many steps you’ve taken while sitting in your pocket.
Fitness tracking didn’t remain an obscure feature for serious athletes. It became part of everyday life.
That’s what makes looking back at something like the RS-Computer interesting.
It isn’t simply an old sneaker with some weird electronics attached to the heel.
It’s an early version of a behaviour that would eventually become completely normal.
PUMA brought it back 32 years later
In 2018, PUMA decided the RS-Computer deserved another run.
Visually, the reissue remained remarkably faithful to the original, including the unmistakable computer unit extending from the heel.
Internally, however, things had moved on considerably.
The new version introduced Bluetooth connectivity for smartphones, USB charging, a three-axis accelerometer, LED indicators, a rechargeable battery and memory capable of storing around 30 days of running data. Even the companion app referenced the original era through retro 8-bit graphics.
PUMA produced only 86 individually numbered pairs for the global release, a fairly obvious reference to the shoe’s 1986 heritage.
Technology had finally caught up with the idea.
Maybe PUMA was just early
There’s something I really like about products like the RS-Computer.
Not necessarily because they succeeded.
But because somebody had to be willing to make something that sounded slightly ridiculous first.
Putting a computer inside a running shoe in the mid-1980s probably did feel unnecessary.
Today, we’re surrounded by devices recording how far we walk, how quickly we run, how many calories we burn and whether we slept properly afterwards.
The computer moved from the heel of the shoe to our wrists and pockets.
The idea never really went away.
So next time Strava tells you that somebody you haven’t spoken to since high school just completed their morning 10K, spare a thought for the PUMA RS-Computer.
Images via @puma-catchup / @hypebeast
