Dustin Walsh's favourite quote, "Failing to plan is planning to fail," is often attributed to 1970s self-help book authour, Alan Lakein.
Walsh has a pretty big plan in store straight ahead of him, all right: Stepping onto the podium at the 2012 Paralympics in London, England.
A 29-year-old visually impaired runner who calls Coquitlam home, Walsh is making his third straight appearance at the Paralympics, having also competed in 2004 in Athens, Greece and in 2008 in Beijing, China.
The London Paralympics running Aug. 29 to Sept. 9 will be something new for Walsh –– and Canada, for that matter –– as it will mark the first time they have taken part in a relay at the Games, specifically in the men's 4x100 metres.
Adding to the excitement is the fact Walsh is one of a rather small contingent of Canadian athletes to have made the global grade for London.
"It always feels good [to qualify], but I think this might feel the best," the New Westminster-born Walsh told The Tri-City News on the phone Wednesday. "Canada's sending a small team this time... we sent about 40 [athletes] to Athens [in '04] and this time it's only 26. It's a pretty high-quality team so it's nice to have made it."
Despite a rather tricky training regimen trying to link the team –– two of its members are from B.C. and two are from Ontario –– the Canadian men's 4x100 Paralympic relay unit is currently considered a top-five squad internationally.
The other B.C. member is Langley's Braedon Dolfo, and both train with the Langley Mustangs Track and Field Club.
The biggest key, Walsh figures, is timing while passing the baton, with communication and pin-point delivery being enormous factors in a race that takes roughly only 45 ticks to finish and one bobble perhaps the difference from a medal to mediocrity.
"We started out really having no idea how to do anything... we basically had to write the book on it," Walsh said of his Canadian crew learning the relay. "It certainly wasn't new to the world for able-bodied athletes but not so for the disabled. There was a lot of trial and error, for sure."
Like in any sport, teamwork is of the essence, added Walsh, who figures to run the third leg, although the exact order on the team has yet to be determined and will be done by Canadian team coach Laurier Primeau, who's also the head coach of Langley's Trinity Western University Spartans track and field squad.
Walsh is plenty used to running corners, with the 400m being his individual speciality and having posted a Canadian national championship time of 53.77 seconds competing in it recently in Calgary.
"You look for people whose strengths match their position," Walsh said. "We perform as individuals but we succeed as a team.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I always go in looking to make the finals and go from there. I just hope to get the podium, either in the 400 or with the relay team. That would be a pretty amazing thing."