Under Armour has had considerable success with its Velociti Elite carbon-plated racing flat (now in its third iteration), worn by 2025 Boston Marathon champion and course record holder Sharon Lokedi. Now, the brand has blended and refined the best qualities of the championship shoe into a range of road training and racing shoes to cover every need–and to appeal to today’s generation of runners.
The brand also sponsors a number of Canadian athletes, including heptathlete Georgia Ellenwood, 3,000m steeplechaser and two-time Olympian Regan Yee and budding 1,500m superstar Foster Malleck. To create the line, the brand took its most accomplished athletes into the lab, put them on treadmills and incorporated the data they collected into the design of the new shoes. The Velociti line merges the previous Velociti and Infinite models into one streamlined system for training and racing, encompassing no fewer than five shoes: the Velociti Elite 3 and Velociti Pro 2 racing flats, and the Velociti Pace, Velociti SPD and Velociti Distance trainers.
Here’s how what you need to know about each shoe, and how to effectively incorporate them into your rotation to optimize your training and racing.
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UA Velociti’s racing and speedwork fleet
UA Velociti Elite 3
Jonathan Hutnyan, senior product line manager for UA’s Performance Run Footwear division, says the Velociti Elite 3 is your “go-to race-day shoe.” It is even lighter than the previous version, fast and highly propulsive, with two layers of very responsive HOVR+ (supercritical HTPU) in the midsole. These work in concert with a full-length carbon plate and a rocker profile to encourage an explosive, efficient stride.
The shoe has a very low, 2-mm heel drop, which allows for a generous amount of cushioning under the front of the shoe, which you’ll appreciate at the end of a long race.
There are some key differences between the new speedwork/racing shoes and previous versions of the Elite shoe, such as the upper material (a durable leno weave and visually different from the previous warp upper, though equally durable). The outsole, too, has changed; previous incarnations of the Elite did not have a rubber outsole separate from the Flow midsole, but the brand has now moved to a more durable rubber outsole, even for the lightest training and racing shoes in the fleet.
The Elite 3 will appeal most to elite and sub-elite runners for whom training and racing are a major focus.
UA Velociti Pro 2
The Pro 2 is a fast trainer for speedwork. More accessible than the Elite 3, it has a similar upper and the same midsole cushioning, though it is slightly heavier and more durable, with a higher heel offset (8 mm). Propulsion and stability come from the shoe’s injected glass-filled plate, which works in concert with the HOVR+ cushioning, and which is less stiff and aggressive than the Elite 3’s carbon-fibre plate.
UA Velociti SPD
The SPD, in turn, is a step down from the Pro 2, in terms of both performance and price; it makes an excellent and very versatile shoe for daily miles, tempo runs and workouts, and is very forgiving, considering it lacks a plate. (Though you could certainly use it for racing, especially if you need a shoe that works for various purposes.)
UA Velociti daily training shoes
UA Velociti Distance
If you liked the UA Infinite Elite shoe, the Velociti Distance just became your go-to long-run shoe. Built on a wide, stable platform, it’s still a very light shoe, super comfortable and surprisingly bouncy, and will carry you through all of your easy runs and weekend long runs. It has an internal fit cage for maximum comfort; it fits true-to-size and its light rubber outsole works well to keep you grounded in any weather.
UA Velociti Pace
This is a shoe for those who are new to running, and who need good cushioning and high-quality materials at a very affordable price. Being relatively low to the ground (though with an 8 mm heel drop, making it comfortable for runners who heel-strike), it also makes an excellent shoe for gym workouts, or for walking.
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