These are some of my favorites from the BlueWater Resort & Casino Parker 425 off-road races yesterday. The 425-mile course makes for a grueling day of racing performance trucks over tough desert terrain, watched by thousands of spectators and broadcast on several sports networks from Parker, Arizona. For part of the race I was helicoptered over the course by the great pilot Maria Langer of Flying M Air, and for the rest I was at the pit area somewhere in the middle of the miles-long Python. A fun day of photography!

These athletes amaze me: from a cold, energetic swim in the waters of the river, they emerge onto land to take straight to a muscle-pumping bicycle race, finishing with a foot race to the finish line. Pushing the boundaries of endurance, energy and willpower… exhausts me just processing these photos!