UMass-Lowell athlete who lost leg hopes to race in 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games

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UMass-Lowell athlete who lost leg hopes to race in 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games

Noelle Lambert doesn’t remember getting into the starting blocks. She has no recollection of sprinting the 100M in the World Championships — or setting a U.S. record.

With so much adrenaline, “I honestly blacked out while I was completing the race. Which was good, because I’m usually overthinking it,” says Lambert, 22, who graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in May.

The Manchester, NH resident, who trains at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, did more than just complete the race — she placed 4th in the world in her division (T63) of above-the-knee amputees in the 100M. With a time of 16.31 seconds, she also set a U.S. record.

Not bad for someone who just turned her attention to track in May.

“After graduating and playing lacrosse, I wanted to continue to be an athlete and be as active as I could. So I turned to running,” she says.

Lambert was honored as a “Heroes Among Us” by the Boston Celtics in January, and received a Myra Kraft Community MVP Award from the Kraft family and the New England Patriots this summer for her work with the Born To Run Foundation.

The Foundation recently made its sixth donation — a specialized recreational arm — to New Jersey yoga instructor Melanie Waldman.