Scott Davidson, Author at Scott Davidson Living Adaptive

Exosym vs. PDE: One Device Got Me 6 Miles, the Other Got Me 100

Which is better for running, an Exosym or a PDE based device like the Fabtech? One got me 6 miles. The other got me 100. Disclaimer: I am not a certified prosthetist orthotist, engineer, or physician. This article is simply my perspective as a para ultrarunner as of June 7, 2026. Why My Perspective May…

A Broken Foot, a New Exosym, and 100 Miles Later

While training for and completing my first 50 mile ultramarathon in early 2025, I developed a small fracture in my right foot. The Exosym provided just enough protection to get me across the finish line, but the pain made one thing clear, if I wanted to go farther, something had to change in my Exosym.…

The Skin Battle: Endurance Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics

Leaning against a sun-baked streetlight, I untie my shoe, raise my right leg, and investigate the damage. A flap of skin hangs loose beneath a wound. The sting itself is nothing, pain is familiar territory. What upsets me is the math that follows: infection or pressure sores equal downtime. I’m only one mile into a…

“Runners Welcome, Walkers Tolerated” – Nike

At the 2026 Boston Marathon, Nike ran an ad, “Runners Welcome, Walkers Tolerated. I don’t respond to rage bait from brands. I prefer to move forward and focus on my goals. But this time I felt compelled to respond, because a giant pool of hard working para athletes got slapped in the face by Nike.…

100 Miles Was Impossible, Until It Wasn’t

100 miles is unachievable for someone like me. In fact, here are the odds: Clubfoot occurs in 1 in 1,000.¹ About 1 in 2 of those cases are bilateral clubfoot.¹ Roughly 1 in 3 to 1 in 2 bilateral cases are severe to very severe at presentation.¹ There are 148,169 people in recorded history that…

My Ultramarathon Timeline – An Exosym Ultra Runner’s Journey

February 11, 2022 My running hopes essentially ended in a mundane clinic in Everett, WA. The dynamic AFOs failed after many build attempts. The clinician didn’t care. “I’ll ship a new footplate when I get a chance but we’re really backed up. I’ll adjust the new set of AFOs and send them later.” I nodded,…

Chase an Impossible Dream and Learn Why You’re Here

My hope is that you will chase an impossible dream. A dream that requires relentless work, ushers in sleepless nights, and overwhelms you with doubt. A dream so big that you’re hypercautious to share with your community. A dream that pushes you to reach your greatest potential. This is the kind of dream I hope…

Dear Parents of a School-Age Child

Dear parents of a school-age child, As your child returns to school, respectfully, I ask that you explain to your child that it’s never okay to make fun of classmates that have limb differences or other disabilities. Children with disabilities often live in uncertainty, need extensive treatments, and often lack needed support as they navigate…

100k Ultramarathon Finished

This isn’t just a run, it’s a testimony. I believe that God asks me to do the very best with what I’ve been given and display the gift of adaptability. So I turned my severe birth defects that stretch from my face to my feet into my greatest strength. Each run is an opportunity to…

Shaving some bone off my foot for some Reebok Pumps

My sixth grade English teacher declared I was “retarded.” The audience consisting of my father and school staff were caught off guard by her remarks. As the parent-teacher conference knifed forward, she ranted, “he is too far behind. He can’t say simple words like ‘the’ and ‘girl’ and he is always lost in class.” In…

My First 50 Mile Ultramarathon is Finished

I struggled through 45 miles at the Fat Ox Ultra Marathon on November 23, 2024. I really wanted 50 miles, but shit went sideways as my legs methodically broke down. At 2 am, I finished my last mile. A mile that took about 30 minutes to complete. Apparently, I looked really bad, so my one…

How I Stopped Hiding My Legs

My story of overcoming severe body image issues. Toothpick legs, stick legs, chicken legs, weird, gross, starving, anorexic, retard. What’s wrong with your legs? Do you eat? Will your legs break if I kick them? Does it hurt to stand? These were the types of comments and questions I received every single gym class. The…

Accepting your limb differences and body dismorphic disorder

I get quite a few of these messages from individuals missing out on life because they hate the consequences of showing their limb differences, such as this message below. What would you say to individual struggling with a very real physical difference? The consequences of displaying their differences include others staring, laughing, taking pics and…

How difficult is running for me?

Sometimes, running can feel like an impossible challenge. Running is very difficult for me due to my birth defects including severe bilateral clubfoot. For example, I can’t stand barefoot, my heels have no fat pads so bone hits surface in each movement. This compounded with all soft and hard tissues below knees being deformed or…

Stop Bullying

Be the Change and Stop Bullying As a kid, older kids threatened to break my legs and relentlessly bullied me because of my birth defects. I began to obsessively measure my legs and prayed to God to fix me. I stopped looking in the mirror and destroyed pictures of me. As the bullying intensified my…